The Dosadi Suite - Cycle 5 - Finale
by OrionXIII
Summary: Picks up 20 years after the (M-Rated) story 'For The Children' following the actions of a battered old Dosadi Special Forces operator and his Raider Team after the Cardassian Union conquers a key Dosadi resource. A young child begins to show him that there's more to living, than killing and more to coming home than an address after a desperate battle. Comments VERY welcome!
1. Story Notes

The Dosadi Suite

Story Notes

This is actually a full book, broken into 5 cycles and 3 codas. The story is being told by a reporter – if you want to read things in order here's your table of contents:

Cycle 1 - Fugue

Prologue – Sets the stage.

The story of how a young human Star Fleet engineer meets and falls in love with a Dosadi Imperial Marine. Crosses the events of Coda 2, and 3. Minor appearance by Nurse Chapel.

Cycle 2 – Triad

Continues the story of Wilkes and Sooth, their struggles to have a child while dealing with the espionage intrigues of a Hydran Colonel. Minor appearances by CPT Kirk and CDR Spock.

Cycle 3 – Pivot

Continues the story of Wilkes and Sooth as they become involved in stopping a bio-weapon from being released on Earth under a flag of truce.

Coda 1 – Raid on Romulus

Details the events of the Dosadi raid that destroyed the Romulon capitol city.

Coda 2 – Free For All At Toulagai

Details the events of the first battle where Wilkes, Sooth and COL Jons first met – though on opposite sides.

Coda 3 – The Long Night

Details the events of the Dosadi assault on a Gorn battlestation to recover a defector.

Cycle 4 – Minuet

Tells the story Wilkes' and Sooth's daughter Heather's time at Starfleet Academy while she learns to be a Federation fighter pilot and a details a series of Cardassian atrocities.

Cycle 5 – Finale

Tells the story of Wilkes' and Sooth's son Corin, a Dosadi Special Forces Soldier and his rescue of a young Dosadi child after the Cardassians capture a critical Dosadi planet – and the Dosadi's attempt to retake the planet.

Epilogue – Wraps it all up for you.

End Notes & Acknowledgments – copyright and title information for song lyrics and thanks to the folks who've provided help and suggestions!

I would VERY much like any comments, suggestions, or reviews you would care to offer – positive or negative, even if it's just 'This didn't hook my interest'. Thank you for taking the time to read it!


	2. Chapter 1

_**CYCLE 5 – FINALE  
**_

_**CHAPTER 1**_

"_There is no substitute for face-to-face reporting and research."_

_- Thomas Friedman – Earth (Human)_

ANTICA, BETA RENNER SYSTEM

JANUARY, 2310

Lieutenant Commander Corin lay flat on his belly, watching the landing field below him. He and his 5-man team had been on Antica for a week, waiting and watching. This was a tremendous risk, but they didn't give easy missions to the Raider Teams. They were expected to be able to get in, get the job done, and get out without being caught; usually without anyone ever even knowing they were there.

This time though, they were being used to send a message. The Anticans are a large, fur-bearing canine-like species native to the Beta Renner system in Sector 500. Purely carnivorous, they preferred to eat their food while it was still alive. Warp-capable and in a long-running war with their neighbors, the reptilian Selay, they were skilled fighters. Recently, they had attacked a Dosadi freighter, killed her crew and took her cargo. The Dosadi High Command hoped that sending such a message would put an end to any Antican thoughts of continuing the practice without the need for a devastating military action by the much more powerful Imperial Fleet, which truth be told, was badly overstretched at the moment.

Scattered out on the field below Corin's perch on a low range of rocky hills bordering the field were nearly two dozen ships. These ranged in size from atmospheric craft to military patrol ships to a pair of large warp-capable transports. The buildings of the facility were squat, dome-shaped structures and the team had mined them extensively over the previous days. Finally, the vessel he was waiting for began landing, a sleek, well-armed attack ship; About the same size as a Dosadi frigate. This was the same ship that had attacked and captured the _Gatlon_.

He spoke quietly, relying on the subcutaneous communicator to mask the transmission to his team. "That's her. Sunset's in 15 minutes – we go then. No change to the plan."

Nothing was said in return. Nothing needed to be. He and his team had been working together on similar missions for fifteen years. The ship settled slowly onto the field as the sun slid towards the horizon behind Corin and his men. His chronometer tingled his skin and he began creeping towards the perimeter fence of the landing field, trusting to the twilight and his active camouflage battle dress.

There was a gate guard, a young Antican who was watching the attack ship and daydreaming, clearly bored with standing guard. He died without making a sound and without knowing anything about why. Corin slid his lifeless body to the ground, removing his knife from the young guard's rib-cage and continued on through the gate, noting on his heads-up display that the rest of the team were on-schedule.

They made their way through the ships on the field, quickly planting their remaining charges where they would do the most good – for the Dosadi, at least. Meanwhile, Corin made his way to the Administration building. He stepped through the door, his silenced caseless-ammo pistol making virtually no noise as the sub-sonic rounds tore into the Antican at the entry point. There was none of the noise a phaser or disruptor would make and it killed just as well, he thought to himself.

In seconds he had charged up the stairs, the active camouflage adapting itself to the colors and lighting around him. Switching from the pistol to his phaser, he pushed the door to the command post open and stepped inside, reveling in the shocked looks of the Antican's inside – including, he was sure, the captain of the attack ship.

"Everyone stand up and move to the far wall." he said, the universal translator making sure that he was understood even if the unwavering phaser muzzle hadn't already made it clear. With no real option, the Antican's did as they were commanded.

"Who is the captain of that vessel that just landed?"

One of them stepped forward, snarling, but before he could even speak, Corin shot him through the liver – located mid-chest on an Antican. Watching the dying man writhe on the floor in pain, he spoke again. "Hopefully this will be all it takes for your species to learn that attacking Dosadi will bring you only death in large measure." He indicated another man, "You – Move to the communications panel."

He handed him a sheet of real paper. "Contact your higher authority and read this. Quickly."

The Antican, watching Corin out of the corner of his eye tapped some controls and began to read, "The Dosadi Imperium has elected to demonstrate to you the costs of attacking the Empire. The vessel involved and the landing facility supporting it have been destroyed. We could as easily destroy any facility on your planet, or your entire planet. There will be no further warnings. Any further attack on any Dosadi anywhere by any Antican will result in the extermination of your race."

As he finished, Corin shot him, quickly moving on to shoot the remaining Anticans in the room, the open microphone picking up the sounds of slaughter. He stepped to the console and hissed in Dosadi, "Don't fuck with us. Ever." and closed the connection.

As he was heading towards the stairs, he killed two more Anticans who had come to investigate the sounds of phaser fire, continuing quickly out the door. Speaking again to his team, he said, "Get clear and let's blow the place. Move, move, move."

They double-timed back through the perimeter fence and when Corin noticed people beginning to exit the buildings, he ordered, "Blow it now."

"Now?" came the puzzled response from Force Leader Veth, his demolitions expert.

"Now, now, now." he repeated, followed by a ripping series of explosions across the field as the ships and buildings were torn apart.

There was no further conversation.

Two hours later, they were back aboard the _ISS Tarak_ after finishing their mission debrief. The team was back in their usual civilian rigs and sitting in the team room aboard the Raider which was cloaked and leaving the Beta Renner system far behind.

The Team NCO, Strike Leader Trion was clearly not happy. She was scowling at an officer she had followed and respected for many years. "Cap, what the hell was that?"

Corin was puzzled, "What was what, Trion?"

"That kid at the gate? What was the point to killing him? We wanted to leave witnesses, remember?"

Force Leader Ason added "And why blow the buildings so early? They were still coming out of them."

Veth asked, "The plan was to give them a couple minutes to evac before we blew everything so that there were lots of Anticans telling the story of just what happened. So...?"

Corin shrugged, a fluid action in a Dosadi, "There were still plenty of them to tell the tale. And the kid was sloppy. And I didn't want to have him getting lucky behind my back."

Trion shook her head, "So rather than knocking him cold you killed him? Cap, you're getting creepy."

"What do you mean by that, Strike?"

The team exchanged glances, "Cap, we've followed you for a lot of years because we trust you. Because we know you. Well, Trellos is new, but she _asked_ for this team because we've got a great rep. But, part of why we've got a great rep is because we kill when we have to, not because we can."

He shrugged again, "We had to. We were supposed to send a message. We sent one."

Soral, the team medic offered his observation. "Corin, I think you're starting to like it too much. There's a reason they promote people out of the teams after a while. You've turned down like 3 offers to move up to full Commander and go into planning instead of the field. Why?"

He looked at the medic, a man he'd worked side by side with for almost a decade. "I'm not interested in leaving the field. This is who I am, what I do. I've got no interest in sitting in a ship planning raids when I could be running them."

Trion continued her probing. "Corin, you're _forty_. You've been in regen, what, seven times? Eight? There's only so many times they can grow stuff back."

"You're no spring chicken yourself, Strike."

"I'm thirty-six." she smiled, "But Corin, I AM gonna cycle out. I've got two kits and a mate and I'm getting too old to run around on exotic planets meeting interesting new people and killing them. And to be honest, I've always been able to go home knowing that I only killed when I had to. That my _team_ only killed when we had to. I'm not sure I can do that this time. I don't like that.

"I think it's gotten too easy for you, Corin. I don't think you know anything else and it's getting to be waaay too enjoyable for you."

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't have the blood lust. Don't go all crazy just because I made the message a little more emphatic than we planned. And I'm pretty sure I've got a few years of ops left in me yet."

Trion kept pushing. "No blood lust, huh? Killing that kid because he was sloppy? Corin, when was the last time you spent time with someone who wasn't on the team?"

"I visit my folks every time we're back on Dosad."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. When was the last time you shared a bed with someone? Anyone? Or how about this, when was the last time you had a relationship with someone? Hell, even just for sex?"

His expression grew cold. "That's not really your business, Strike."

Her expression matched his, "Yes, it is. I'm the Team NCO. If it affects this team, everything is my business. And your mental state determines what happens to this team each and every time we go on a mission. If you're more interested in death than in life, that is a _huge_ issue and is very much my business."

"I think we're done here."

"No, we're not. Cap, Dosadi are a _social_ species, and you're the most isolated Dosadi I've ever met, and getting more isolated as the years go on. That's not a good sign..."

He interrupted her, "I'm only half-Dosadi."

"Who gives a fuck what genes make up that beat up old body of yours? My point is you're not behaving normally, Cap. We've all noticed it. It's been getting worse." The rest of the team were nodding and watching Corin. She stood up, "Cap, there's way more to living than just killing. We've all got mates and most of us have kits. Except you. We're worried about you – and ourselves as well." She put her hand on his shoulder, noticing the scars under her hand.

He put his hand on hers. "You guys _are_ my family, Strike."

"Then listen to us, OK? Cap, you gotta find something to live for, or you're going to take us all down with you."

He nodded and looked at the table top while the rest of his team got up and left the room.

ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

Ceena sat upright, panting heavily in the hot desert sun. She looked up at the pale blue sky, noting that the afternoon clouds were already starting to build. Turning to the young reporter who had been following her and her husband Tir around for the past several days she said, "We've only got a few more minutes before we should head back unless you want to enjoy the monsoons."

"No luck on that root you're looking for?"

"Really, you've been talking to us for days now! I'd think you'd have picked up more on what we're doing. It's the Zolar root."

The young human smiled, "I remember, and I know it's a big export of this planet, and I know it's popular because it acts like an intoxicant on many humanoid species – one without a hangover! And I _also_ know that it affects _your_ species like catnip does on Earth cats."

She laughed. "You're bad. You listen a lot more than you let on."

"Well, that IS my job, Ceena."

"And I'm sure you know that our main interest in Zolar isn't because it's an intoxicant, but because of the photo-genetic properties. We're beginning to suspect that the concentrations of dilithium in this planet have a lot of effect upon the root and that may be one reason it's so unique. The mitochondria seem to have no relationship whatsoever to any other photo-genetic species in the alpha quadrant and that's caused some problems for our main research!"

"I'm afraid the science of that is way beyond anything that I can follow." He paused as Tir came up to the pair of them.

"Found one, but it's going to take some time to get a decent sample without destroying the plant, and judging by the sky, we don't have that kinda time if we want to stay dry." he said.

She stood up, the young reporter marveling at the flowing grace with which the Dosadi moved. "We can always come back tomorrow. We've got plenty of data to play with for tonight anyway." She moved to her husband and rubbed the top of her head under his deep tan colored chin.

"Perhaps we can talk more about the Wilkes Clan then? Since your work seems to be on hold for the next little bit?"

They were packing up their instruments and tools and Tir asked, "Why all this interest in them? And why come to us? We're not really related you know."

"Well, not by blood. But from what I've learned of the Dosadi, your parents are considered part of the family, as are you, and your father has been closely involved with Captain Wilkes and Storm Leader Sooth for a number of years."

Ceena and Tir looked at each other. Tir answered, "Well, yes, Dad and Captain Wilkes ran an import/export business on Dosad together, which is how we met." and he squeezed his wife.

"See, that's something my readers would be interested in learning about as well! A Dosadi married to a Hydran? That's not a mix anyone on Earth would think would ever happen! I'm guessing there's quite a story there."

Ceena laughed, "Not really. My father-in-law would bring Tir with him when he came to visit and we just fell in love is all. Pretty basic stuff, really."

They began loading their gear in the back of the ATV float they were using to explore the desert region to the west of a small mining village. When they got everything loaded and were about to get into the passenger compartment, there was a terrific peal of thunder in the distance.

"Wow!" Ceena exclaimed, "That's the loudest thunder I've ever heard!"

The reporter said, "We need to find someplace to hide, right now. That wasn't thunder."

Tir asked, "What was it then?"

"That was an explosion – look." and he pointed up in the sky. Visible in the far distance were flashing lines of green, dark specks diving down from the sky and growing clouds. More rumbles and bangs began to reach them."

"What the _hell?_" Tir asked.

"I've done plenty of war reporting; we need to get out of here, but not to the village. This is about to become a war zone and they're not going to be picky about who they shoot."

Tir put the vehicle in motion and began to bounce across the desert, away from the mining village.

Ceena asked, "Who would be stupid enough to attack the Imperium? We're too far from the Klingons or Avatans. Romulons? The supply line would be insane."

The human said, "We can figure the who and the why out later, but right now I'd really like to get someplace safer." He was facing out the rear of the ATV, sensor logging the attack, watching more incoming vessels engaging the defenseless mining village they were leaving behind them.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Legate Dukat of the Cardassian Union leaned back in his chair and smiled. Three _years_ of planning and toil. Just setting up the staging base hidden within the Torelli Nebula had taken a year of secretive efforts. But finally, the day of action had arrived. 200 ships had dropped out of warp around Eletha and were closing fast.

Gul Tennekt gave his orders to his staff. "Send the destroyers after their patrol craft. Begin the bombardment of ground defenses. After five minutes, launch the fighters. When they report air supremacy, launch the assault craft. Move quickly while their defense network is still struggling with the Obsidian Order's charming little virus." and he chuckled.

Within seconds, nearly twenty vessels responded to his commands, with a dozen destroyers charging towards the four 20-man patrol craft the Dosadi had in orbit. Eight of the big Sartan-class cruisers were already taking up orbit around Eletha and targeting ground facilities with their heavy forward phaser arrays.

IMPERIAL DOSADI PATROL SHIP ISS FORETH, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

The alert siren was wailing, but his ears were ringing so badly that Lieutenant Commander Karon could barely hear it. The lights were sparking on and off again and something was on fire. He coughed "Where the hell did they come from?!"

His helmsman, wounded, answered back "No clue. One second they weren't there, the next they were shooting everything." while he continued to drive his little ship in as erratic a fashion as he could. Their few remaining weapons were firing constantly – with so many ships around them they could hardly miss.

Karon looked at his tactical display, now completely clogged with Cardassian warships and weapons. There really was no hope that they could salvage anything out of this, but honor. "Ramming speed. Aim for that cruiser."

The helmsman grinned back at him, "Honor above all!" And plotted his course, the engines straining to their maximum output, the _Foreth_ trailing fire, smoke, and debris as she rolled towards a Cardassian cruiser that was moving into orbit.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Dukat leaned forward and frowned. The Dosadi didn't seem to ever do what was expected. He watched a nearly-destroyed patrol ship slam into one of his cruisers. Shields weren't going to stop 2,000 tons of mass moving at high-obrital-speeds no matter how much energy you put into them. The cruiser exploded almost instantly, the detonation causing further damage in the packed fleet. They hadn't tried to surrender. They hadn't even tried to abandon ship.

Gul Tennekt spoke, "All enemy vessels destroyed, Legate. We are bombarding their ground defenses now. As expected, it appears that the virus was unable to take out the transporter-jammers, so we will do a standard assault."

"What are our losses at this time?"

The Gul swallowed. "Two cruisers, and a frigate destroyed, three destroyers and two frigates damaged, but repairable. Several ships report light damage to shields or hull."

"From _four_ patrol craft, with no warning? When the operation has concluded, I will expect an explanation of your crews' performance, Gul Tennekt."

"Yes, sir." He gave the orders that sent the fighters and assault ships down onto the planet surface. The outcome was not in doubt. Only the cost in men and equipment. And he was beginning to worry about what that cost would be. The Dosadi were even more insane than he had believed.


	3. Chapter 2

_**CHAPTER 2**_

"_Women rescue men just as much as, if not more than, men rescue women."_

_- Criss Jami – Earth (Human)_

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS TARAK, UNDER WAY, ALPHA QUADRANT

JANUARY, 2310

The _Tarak's_ captain, Commander Lagos, cleared his throat which quieted the Raider Team sitting in the briefing room with him. "I don't have a lot of information for you, which always means you're getting handed some sort of nightmare. It's supposed to be a simple recon, but even the Korat are in the dark so something has gone really, really wrong.

"Folks, I'm sorry about this. I know we haven't even made it home from your last mission, but High Command received a cut-off distress signal from Eletha about 24 hours ago. Nothing since then at all. For those of you who don't spend all your time reading up on our industrial capacity, Eletha's a fairly new find for the Imperium. It's very dilithium-rich and in the last four years has become our sole source of dilithium. We're even exporting the stuff now.

"Anyone here a fan or Zolar?" he eyed Soral and Ason, "I'm sure not." they grinned back at him. "Eletha's the sole source of that particular recreational treat, so I'm sure there will be lots of motivation to find out what's happening.

"We're going to try to keep this very simple. We go in cloaked, see what's up from orbit, drop you folks down on the ground for a recon, you sneak about for 48 hours, then we pick you back up again and off we go.

Any questions?"

Corin laughed, "A walk in the park. Suurrreee. I like a plan that has no assumptions and nothing but fact."

Lagos managed a hurt expression, "Well, we do strive to provide you with only the very best in mission briefings." He grinned at the team, "If it were easy, they'd send the regular navy, right?"

Sixteen hours later, the _Tarak_ was still cloaked and falling slowly into the Delta Erani system, doing her very best to look like a hole in space.

Corin was standing at the back of the bridge and even his half-Dosadi nose could smell the tension and stress in the bridge crew.

"Don't use the thrusters if you can avoid it – let the gravity pull us in. Just make sure we don't run into any of those bastards." Lagos ordered his helmsman. There were nearly 200 ships clustered thickly about the planet and all of them were looking for the expected Dosadi response.

He looked at Corin, "We are _not_ going to be able to de-cloak or use transporters in that mess, Corin. You're going to have to jump."

"You're still sending us in? We know what's happened – The Cardassians captured it."

"We need to know their disposition on the ground too, Corin. Defenses, troops, our civilian population there, facilities status, all of it. If we're going to retake this, we need to know. If we can get some decent intel now, we can move before they expect anything other than a probing attack. Before they get their defenses set."

"So, a space dive with wing suits, that's always fun. And how in the hell are we supposed to get _off_ again?"

Lagos said nothing.

"Lagos, you are not leaving my team down there for however long it takes the Imperium to retake that."

the _Tarak's_ Chief Engineer spoke up, "It's risky, but I think I know how we can do ONE transport. But we'd better be really fast and if there's a jammer down there, it's not going to happen."

"Do I want to know what you've got in mind, Chief?" Lagos asked.

"Probably not." he laughed. "The timing's going to have to be perfect. We slide up right underneath one of those big battleships, almost touching their shields. We drop out of cloak, transport the team up, go right back into cloak and sneak out as fast as we can."

Lagos said, "Chief, if anyone even looks out the window at the wrong time they'll see us. They'll sure as hell detect the transporter beam. And if the team's not right where we expect them to be at exactly the right time, nada."

"That's the beauty of using a battleship. Big enough to hide under so even any sensor hits they get will just look like a bad return from the battleship and who's going to question one of the command ships using a transporter? It's expected."

Corin laughed, "You're crazier than we are. All right then, there's a chance of getting out of this with our skins intact. Let's make it happen."

By the time the _Tarak_ had settled into an orbit behind one of the Galor-class battleships, he and his team were already geared-up and waiting in the shuttle bay on the back of the angular Raider ship. The heavy, stiff, wing-suits were designed for a fall from orbit, but a space jump was always risky. You had to avoid being detected as something unexpected, avoid over-heating and coming in like a meteor, and avoid running out of air. There was also the risk of destabilizing and spinning around so fast that the centripetal force literally blew the top of your head off.

"All in a day's work." Corin thought to himself. He spoke to his team, "Comm check."

Getting a series of clicks back in his ear, he ordered, "Kill the bay lights. Open the doors. LZ's in your eyepiece, let's not cluster on the way in, shall we?"

He watched the dirty tan planet moving slowly underneath them. Their LZ was a few klicks into the desert past a small mining village that appeared to be just to the west of the Cardassian command post. All they had to do was drop in, recon the village, move into the CP and see what was there. Disable any transporter jammers and make it look like a normal maintenance failure, get transported back up and go home. Easy.

He realized that he was seeing the planet, but not really seeing it. A few years ago, he would have marveled at the beauty of an alien planet a thousand klicks under his feet. He used to love space dives. They were rare, difficult, and always stunning. But somehow, the beauty had been lost to him. Now, it was just another target. He decided that was better; Certainly more professional than mooning over pretty colors like a love-sick kit.

His eyepiece flashed green and he and his team swan-dove off the end of the _Tarak, _becoming visible to every sensor out there as they left the egg-shell like confines of the cloaking field. He activated his de-orbit thruster, giving it a couple quick kicks to increase his separation from his team as they began dropping towards the surface of Eletha.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

"The overnight watch sucks." the young Cardassian manning the sensor station on the _Galor's_ bridge thought to himself. He watched the tracks of the many warships in orbit around this dirtball and daydreamed about the young woman who was operating the science station.

A few tiny dots appeared behind his vessel and he briefly glanced at them and their track information, but there wasn't anything interesting about them. Just more debris from the brief battle when they took the planet. Might be some pretty meteors for the troopers down on the surface. He wished he could take her down to watch them, maybe with something to drink and some music. He smiled and began adding more details to his fantasy.

30 KM ABOVE ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Corin was satisfied with the dive so far. The team had split up nicely and all he could hear in his ear-piece was the heavy breathing of his team as they held themselves stiffly, struggling against the increasing bite of the atmosphere. The entire jump took almost 15 minutes, but the last 5 were the most difficult.

He let his eye scan over the symbols representing the various team members and noticed that Trellos was having difficulty. The young intel specialist was getting buffeted around and he heard her grunt a couple of times. The worst part was that there wasn't a god-damn thing in the world he could do to help her. She had qualified on space diving, of course, but this was her first operational drop and she was carrying more equipment than usual.

Then she started to tumble.

Trellos knew she was in trouble almost the moment she left the _Tarak_. They had loaded her up with extra sensors and commo gear and she hadn't been entirely happy with the balance, but everything had checked out. As soon as the atmosphere had started to hit her, she had begun struggling with her angle of entry. Something kept trying to flip her over – some extra bit of drag – and she was having a very hard time compensating. It required that she bend her back at an almost painful angle and hold it, with her arms held slightly away from her body. She had to make constant tiny adjustments to keep her head down and her track straight.

After 10 minutes of this, her muscles were screaming with exhaustion and the fine motor control she needed was fading fast. She tumbled once, but quickly managed to regain her attitude, only to begin spinning. She corrected that and tumbled again, several times, before she managed to get her head down again, spots dancing before her eyes from the g-forces. She was dropping at over 1,300 km/h and her suit temperature had kicked up to well over 200oC. Hot enough that she could feel it even through the heavy material of the suit.

She was panting heavily and sweating, something that Dosadi physiology only did in an emergency.

Everyone in the team was watching her struggles on their eyepieces, hearing the loud panting, occasional grunts and hisses from the young Group Leader as she fell behind them, the extra drag from her tumbles slowing her down.

"Fuck...fuck...fuck..." she kept repeating quietly as she fought with the atmosphere of Eletha. The altitude was dropping fast, but she was still a long way from being able to deploy her first streamer. She tumbled again, making three full revolutions before she could regain some control. She was spinning now – she decided to accept that, it wasn't too fast – but she'd have to stop the spin before she deployed her chute. The suit was beginning to feel like it was on fire. The angle she was holding wasn't 'clean' – the drag was increasing faster than the suit could dump the heat.

She couldn't make it. She could feel her last, fatal tumble start and she knew there was no way she'd be able to pull out of this one. Maybe it was for the best – it had to be quicker than roasting to death in her wing suit. "Sorry guys." was the last thing the team heard from her.

A moment later, Corin watched her trace get yanked off the top of his eyepiece and then he lost her data feed. "God DAMN IT" he thought to himself. What a total fucking waste. He was already juggling team assignments in his mind as he pulled his first streamer, guaranteeing that he'd be head-up and moving at a slow-enough speed to pull his chute. Veth was her backup on Intel, and Soral would have to take over as backup on Comms. The mission was already going to hell and they weren't even on the ground yet.

He pulled his second streamer only a few seconds after the first – they didn't last long – and decided that he was low enough and slow enough for his chute. Even if he lost his helmet, there'd be enough air to keep him alive, at least. Even if he passed out, the automatics would pop the chute in another couple thousand feet anyway. The rest of the team had come to similar decisions and he noted that they were already spreading out further to help prevent sensors from detecting a cluster of bird-sized objects that didn't move like birds. He wondered if there were even birds on this planet.

His chute opened with the usual bone-jarring shock and he pulled it in tight so that he'd fall at a faster rate, steering towards his marked LZ. In another few minutes, he'd be on the ground and they'd see what there was to see.

ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

Ceena, Tir, and Argus reporter extraordinaire Jonathon Nelson were trying to decide just what to do.

Ceena asked, "How long do we have to hide? Our supplies aren't going to last forever."

Nelson answered, "I'm not sure. I've got neutrality; I'm on Hydran credentials and I'm a reporter, that's usually all it takes for me to move freely most anywhere, at least as long as there's not active shooting going on. Even then, you can do some good combat reporting, you just can't move between the lines very easily. I say let's give it another day, and then I'll go in to the village and see what's going on. See if it's safe for you two – Tir, you should be fine, but Ceena, I'm not so sure about."

Tir said, "Well, if you and I go in and leave Ceena with the supplies, she's got enough for almost a week by herself. And we could sneak more out to the desert where she could pick them up..."

"And here I thought a planet named after my mother would be safe." she laughed.

Nelson laughed with her. "Seriously? They named this after your mother?"

"Not actually – they just have the same name. My grandparents weren't supposed to be able to have kits, so they named her Eletha – it means blessing. When they discovered dilithium deposits here, they named it Eletha too."

"Ahhh! I like your first idea better." He was about to say something more, but there was a sudden noise outside like a large sack of potatoes being dropped off of a roof. The three of them looked at each other and Nelson made a 'shush' motion with his finger. He stood up silently and peeked out of the small cave they were sheltering in. He didn't see anything, certainly nothing that looked threatening.

He took a half step out of the entrance and he shouted in surprise as a pale blue gossamer fabric blew onto him, entangling him. "Jesus! Fuck! What..." It took him a moment to calm down and try to pull the silky sheets off his face. By the time he managed it, Tir and Ceena had come up and were holding handfuls of the stuff.

"What is it?" Tir asked.

"I don't know." Nelson answered, his heart still racing. "It's not heavy enough to have made that noise though."

Ceena was gathering it up, pulling at it. "It's stuck on something, and there's a lot of it."

"Probably the rocks." Nelson said. They continued tugging at the fabric, pulling at it and following the stuff around the entrance to their little cave and towards the broken ground surrounding it.

"What the hell is that?" he asked, pointing towards some low scrub and rocks a few meters distant that had been smashed and now looked blurry and indistinct.

Tir said, "It's a parachute – look – shroud lines!"

"I've got a very bad feeling about this." Nelson said.

Ceena cried out, "It's a person – she's hurt. come quick!" and ran ahead of the other two. When they arrived, she was kneeling next to a bloody, burned, Dosadi face laying in the scrub, but the body was hard to make out. It wavered and looked a lot like the brush and rocks she was laying in.

Nelson, standing over the other two, holding his hand up to his glasses and taking the scene in said, "Holy shit. Active camouflage. I didn't think that was even real." Tir and Ceena were checking the woman over.

Tir glanced up at him, "Stop playing with the damn camera and help us. We need to get back in the cave and get her some first aid, She's not dead."

"Yeah, sure. Be careful of her neck and back – keep them straight." He and Tir picked her up while Ceena supported her spine and the three of them made their way back into the cave where they laid her out flat on the ground.

Ceena got out the first-aid kit from the ATV. "Get that stuff off of her, she's got a lot of injuries." While Tir and Nelson started to cut her uniform off her, she tried to treat the burns and the bleeding head wounds.

"What is this thing?" Tir asked as they struggled with the heavy suit with it's interconnecting fabric membranes. It had turned almost the same color as the cave floor and was difficult to see.

"A wing suit. It lets you 'fly' a looong way when you drop in from orbit. She's gotta be some sort of Dosadi commando." Nelson answered. "I've never reported on a battle where they were used. The people who see them used don't usually live very long."

"She's messed up is what she is." Ceena said, "Both legs are broken, her shoulder's dislocated, she's got a fractured skull, some of her ribs are broken and her head and face are burned. The first aid kit can't handle all of this."

While Ceena and Tir were treating the wounded commando, Nelson was checking out the gear they had removed. "Folks, this isn't good for us. This isn't good for us at all."

Ceena, irritated with him, snapped, "And why is that? It's a hell of a lot worse for her. Stop poking through her stuff."

"I don't even know what half this gear is and I've been doing combat photojournalism for years. But I do know that whoever she was with is going to need it and come looking for it. And whoever shot up that village is going to come looking for them. We may want to find someplace else to be."

"So what, you want us to just leave her to die?"

"She would have died anyway, Ceena. We don't want to be around when either of them come looking for her and her equipment. It's going to compromise my neutrality if I'm helping a combatant."

Tir said, "To hell with your neutrality then. Medics are always neutral. But fine, you don't have to help her, just I don't know, keep watch or something, or leave, I don't care. Just don't sell us out, OK?"

Nelson shut up. What did he owe these people? What did he owe his story? He watched the two of them working over the injured commando, letting his sensor record the entire scene. This was risky as hell, but it could also lead to some of the best war reporting in years – daring commando raids always played well with the public and he was literally in on the ground floor. Assuming he survived – that was always the tricky part.

But, would he compromise his journalistic integrity if he actively helped save her life? Or would his readers see him as compassionate? How would his Cardassian readers see him, if he chose one side over another? He finally decided to do nothing, to remain an objective observer.

And he had to make sure the records stayed safe when _either_ side showed up. Soldiers were always so spastic about secrecy. But he had dual feeds for just that reason, he chuckled to himself. No one had found the second cache yet and it was unlikely they ever would unless they cut his belly open.

Trellos opened her eyes and saw only darkness. She was surprised that she could even open her eyes. She hurt all over, but that was a damn sight better then being dead. Pulling her streamer early had been a total desperation move, but it looked like it worked. She must not have been high enough for the low pressure to kill her. She had a vague memory of her helmet getting torn off by the shock and incredible burning heat and that was pretty much it.

"Shh." she heard someone say in Dosadi, "You're badly hurt, OK? Don't try to move."

"Where am I?" She wondered if the Cardies had captured her. That would be very bad. It wasn't like she could pretend to be a tourist.

A middle-aged Dosadi woman leaned over her, "You're in a cave on Eletha. You landed badly outside and we brought you in here. What were you doing? Are there others with you?"

"Collaborator." Trellos decided, but only said, "I'm alone. I was bringing medical supplies to the civilians here."

Nelson laughed, "Group Leader, beyond your personal kit, none of what's in that ruck are medical supplies."

Her eyes tracked over to him, What the hell? She thought. A human? Why was there a human on Eletha? He must've got her rank and ID off of her tags. How long was she out?

It didn't help her confusion any when Tir said "Shut up, Nelson."

"I don't understand. Who are you people?" she asked.

Ceena said, "I'm sorry we should have introduced ourselves. I'm Jons Ceena of Hydra, and this is my husband, Jons Tir. We're xenobiologists studying the Zalor root. This man is Jonathon Nelson, he's a reporter for Argus who's doing a story on my family for some reason or other."

Trellos tried to think. Something about this was jogging her memory but it was so hard to think through the pain in her body and the splitting headache she had. "I don't understand, you're a Dosadi but your...husband?... is a Hydran? Like your mate?"

"Yes, it's a long story." she smiled. "Nelson put your shoulder back in it's socket for you, that's asking a lot of a reporter."

She needed to get in touch with her team, but if this was a trap...maybe they were collaborators and they were trying to get her to bring the rest of the team in. Damn she wished her head would stop hurting long enough to think clearly.

Ceena asked her "Do you need to get in touch with the other Soldiers? So they can come and help you? Our first aid kit can't fix most of what's wrong with you. I don't think you're going to die, but you're pretty messed up."

As foggy as she was feeling, contacting the team was the very last thing she was going to do. "No, I'm alone. I told you that."

Nelson snorted and Ceena glared at him.

"Well, you're safe for a while. Just relax – here's a water tube. If you need anything, we'll try to get it for you."

VILLAGE OF SONGTE, ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

Corin and his team were ghosting along the outskirts of the mining village of Songte, sensors recording audio, visual, and sensor traps. They had already mapped a number of air defense positions in the distance. Coupled with the _Tarak's_ own logs, they should be able to fill in almost the entire network here. But this little mining town had been blasted. Corin wasn't sure why – there was nothing here. No defensive positions, no garrisons, no anything. Just a hundred or so roundhouses with families. Why waste time shooting it up? It looked like two, maybe three ships had strafed through the village hitting about a third of the houses. There were still bodies laying in heaps.

There were also roving patrols of Cardassian troops. Corin made sure to note that they were from the Ninth Order, a division with a particularly brutal reputation. The twilight was making it much easier for them to avoid being discovered and they moved into the outer edge of the village. The entire team dropped flat and froze as they heard a snarling Dosadi curse, a Cardassian scream and the sound of phasers a moment later. A block ahead, they saw a pair of dead Cardassian Soldiers mixed with two dead Dosadi, evidently a mated pair.

"Fuck these animals!" the Glinn in charge of the squad cursed. "I am not taking any more casualties on this sweep, they're all insane! Kill all of them that you find, on sight."

Corin and the team had scanned the better part of two companies of Cardassians clearing the village – well more than they could hope to deal with. There was a faint questioning hiss from Trion and Corin responded, "Negative." He heard a shot from within the roundhouse he was hiding next to and peeked through the deep window.

He was moving through the door long before any part of him that he still recognized made a decision. There was a second shot. The door was already kicked in and he had that lovely slow-motion feel that he sometimes got in combat. It was addictive, that feeling when you had all the time in the world and your enemies were moving in slow motion. He stepped silently through the door, noticing that it was thin and had splintered easily. It was always interesting the patterns a door jamb made when it was breached.

He brought the silenced, caseless-ammo pistol up and squeezed the trigger at almost the same moment the Cardassian trooper fired his weapon at the child in front of him. Corin noticed the kit was staring straight at him, not at the Cardie. Must've been turning her head away so she didn't have to see it coming. The other two Cardies were barely moving, turning to look towards Corin, the bodies of two adult Dosadi laying in front of them. He saw the fan-like spray of blood and brains out of the side of the first Cardassian's head and shifted his point of aim to the second man, the sights lining up neatly in the center of the tear-shaped ridge in the center of his forehead. Courteous of them to have evolved such a clear aim-point. Two quick, gentle strokes of the trigger and he half-stepped to the side, letting the pistol track onto the last Cardassian. There was a certain joy to moving like this, like an obscene ballet.

The last man had realized something had gone horribly wrong, but in the poor light and with Corin's active camouflage battle dress, he had no real context to explain what was going on. His phaser was swinging around, but he died without knowing what it was that had killed him and his men. He collapsed into a heap with a wet sound less than two seconds after Corin's first shot. Corin quickly cleared the remainder of the room and ordered "Bring it in." to his team.

He holstered the pistol and knelt down. The two adults were obviously beyond saving, but the kit looked like there might be something left. He started checking her over. The phaser had been knocked off center by his first round and had taken a chunk out of her left side, up by the armpit. Bloody, but definitely not fatal. She looked like she was about six, he decided. Black fur – a very rare mutation. Pulse was strong though.

"What the fuck, Cap?" Trion asked. Soral pushed past and opened up his med kit.

Corin didn't say anything, standing up and watching Soral work. The rest of the team slipped into the roundhouse with puzzled expressions on their faces. He wasn't entirely sure what the fuck himself.

"Cap, we don't have time for this shit." Trion said again, "We've got most of a battalion of pissed of Cardies out there and when they see this they're going to know it wasn't some miners who blew these three away."

"I know. I...I just...couldn't..." he shook his head. "Ason, rig the house like the door had an IED on it. We'll trip it on the way out. Miners use explosives all the time. They'll buy that."

The little girl opened her eyes and started to cry. Soral tried to quiet her, but was having little effect.

Corin knelt back down by the child and said, "Shush. I need you to be strong and brave, OK? You mustn't cry or they'll find us. All right?"

Her eyes wide, she clamped her mouth closed, her bright green eyes boring into Corin's deep, sapphire blue eyes. Her expression was a mix of terror and fascination and Corin's was one of total puzzlement. The two of them stayed like that, silent and motionless for several seconds until Soral said, "What the fuck?"

Corin shook his head again and said, "What is that, the phrase of the day? Come on, get the house rigged and let's get out of here."

Trion said, "Corin, we've got no camo for the kit. We can't leave her and we can't take her with us. So now what?"

"Here. Hang on." he stripped his ruck and uniform top off. "What's your name?"

"Rileeta." she sniffed, holding her injured side but never taking her eyes off of Corin.

"Okay, Rileeta, this is going to suck for you, but you have to do this, OK? I need you to climb on my back and hold on. It's going to hurt and it's going to be hard to breathe and you have to hold on for a long time and not make ANY noise at all, OK? Just accept that it sucks, OK? If you make noise, they'll find us and kill us."

Veth snickered, "Cap, you can't talk to kits like that."

She said, "Okay. I can do that."

He said, "What the..." and at Corin's glare, shut up and went back to wiring in the detonator he was putting into the explosives.

Corin crouched even further down and the little girl climbed onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. He put the active camouflage top back on, and loosened the straps of his ruck before pulling it on over the both of them. "You OK under there, uh, Rileeta?"

Trion was shaking her head. "You're gonna run how far with that extra 20 kilos cutting off your air?"

There was a muffled "I can do it. It hurts. But I can do it."

"I'm not _that_ old Strike. It's just PT, right? There's some broken hills like 10 klicks into the desert. We can hide there and figure out how to recon the CP. We've got 40 hours to get this done. Plenty of time. We just don't want to be late getting to the transport point or we're stuck here." He stood up and tried not to let the strain show on his face. He fooled no one.

"You picked a funny time to rejoin the world, Cap."

"Shut up, Strike. Let's get out of here."

They had barely gone a hundred meters when the roundhouse exploded, lighting up the darkening sky and raining burning embers down across the village. "Good...Timing..." he panted, knees already feeling the extra weight. The damn little thing was strong he thought to himself, trying to force his wind-pipe open as he ran.

Two kilometers out of the village he signaled for a halt. Sagging down he said, "Hey, kit...Rileeta, you gotta let me breathe." She said nothing but relaxed her death-grip on his neck some.

Trion came up, and ordered "Split his ruck up, guys."

"Negative." he panted, shaking his head.

"One team, one fight, Cap. We're only as strong as the weakest and you're carrying more than anyone. Play macho on your own time, not ours."

She started pulling items out of his ruck and he said, "Fuck you, Strike." but didn't stop her. He drank deeply from the water bladder in his ruck. She peeked down the back of his uniform top.

"You OK down there?" The hot smell of sweat was strong outside of the jacket, she could only imagine what it must be like inside it. But the kit only looked up and nodded, panting for all she was worth.

An hour later, the team had reached the edge of the hills and took up defensive positions, the planet's twin moons casting eerie pairs of shadows across the desert landscape. Corin stripped his ruck and uniform top off gratefully and the poor kit collapsed in a heap. He flopped down next to her and gave her his water-tube to drink from, "Hey, you did _great_ Rileeta! You did it!"

Her fur was matted and wet from both of their sweat and the bandages Soral had put on her were blood-soaked. She said nothing, just looking up at Corin.

Soral came over and checked her over again, "It's OK, Rileeta, you can talk now. We're safe here for a little while. Just keep it quiet, OK?" He gave her a hypo-spray of pain killer and she jumped at the hissing sound.

Trion asked, "Now what, Cap? If they run an air search, they'll find us here."

"Let me just catch my breath, then we'll find a place to laager. Then we can plan out the main recon and exfil."

"Can I cry now?" came a very soft, very wide-eyed question from the little black-furred kit.

Soral said, "Oh yes, sweetie, you can cry now." He held his arms out to the child and instead, she moved closer to Corin, buried her face in his chest and bawled for all she was worth.

Corin put his hand on her back, uncomfortably trying to soothe her and said to Soral, "Don't even say it."

Soral smiled, gave a 'who, me?' gesture and moved back to his spot on the perimeter.


	4. Chapter 3

_**CHAPTER 3**_

"_Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."_

_- Albert Einstein – Earth (Human)_

ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

There were some sort of desert-dwelling insects outside that made a quiet little chirping sound. Trellos was glad that there was something she could use as an alarm if someone came near; they'd go silent when one of her three guards came in or out of the cave. At least she was starting to feel a little better. Whatever the woman had put on the burns had helped a lot and the pain-killer had finally started to make her head feel less like there was something inside it burrowing out.

She needed better information on who these people were and what her status was. It was even money that what they were telling her was just a front to get her to talk or to lead her team into a trap. So, it was her turn to interrogate _them_.

"You're a reporter?" she asked Nelson, wincing at the vibrations that talking sent through her skull.

"Yeah. I work for Argus. You might have seen some of my stories before. I covered the negotiations on Cantor IV and I did some war reporting in the Klingon Empire and some with the Federation. I did a whole series on Captain Archer, Captain Pike, and Captain Kirk, I called it "_ENTERPRISE_" - did you see it?" She shook her head and he continued, "Never done much with the Dosadi though."

"So then what brought you here?"

He hooked his thumb at Tir and Ceena, "Those two."

"Xenobiology is news, now?" This was how you figured out what was really going on. You pulled at the loose threads – the items that didn't fit.

He laughed, "Not even _I_ can make xenobiology news. No, I'm working on a story on their family. The whole family is one big oddity and they keep cropping up in major events over the last fifty years or so. It's just strange."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, like I said, it's strange. I mean, c'mon, you've got a Dosadi married to a Hydran. Who ever heard of that?"

She thought to herself, that sounded familiar, but she couldn't put a finger on it yet. The headache and pain killers made her mind feel like it was stuffed full of gauze. "Is the whole family like that?"

"Pretty much. Her father-in-law runs a business with another mixed pair, human and Dosadi! She's considered a sort of niece because her father is good friends with the human."

A chill went down her back. "A human?"

"Yes! And _he's_ in Starfleet, but his _wife_ is an Imperial Marine and their kids!"

"What about them?" This wasn't possible.

"Well, one of them damn near caused a war between the Federation and the Cardassian Union 20 years ago, another one went into the Imperial Navy and vanished, the other two don't seem to be anything all that strange...yet.

"What was her name? The one that almost caused the war."

"Heath...wait, I didn't say it was a girl. How did you know that?"

She laughed, the broken ribs turning it into a cough. "You're kidding me, aren't you?"

Ceena and Tir picked up that something strange was happening.

"What's wrong?" Ceena asked.

Trellos asked, "What was your name again?"

"Jons Ceena. Why?"

"What are your cousin's names? The Dosadi ones I mean."

"Corin, Nollos, Rollin, and Heather. Why? What's going on?"

Trellos laughed again, ending with a racking cough. "The gods have a sense of humor. That's all."

"What's so funny? I don't understand." Ceena was getting annoyed. Tir was becoming concerned.

She pointed at Nelson, "Can you hand me that...no...the other one...yeah, that one. I need to contact someone." she tried to hold the repeater unit up but her injured ribs and shoulder made that impossible.

He began to worry. "Wait a second. Who are you trying to contact? We're not exactly in a safe place here you know."

She smiled, "I'm going to contact my team leader. Lieutenant Commander Corin. Her cousin."

Nelson's jaw dropped, "What the fuck?"

Two kilometers away, Corin's eyepiece began flashing the numeral 6 in red, nearly on top of their position.

He said, "Trion, you seeing that? Is that a malfunction?"

"Systems check, everyone – penetration check, shift IFF code." she ordered.

Veth said, "Still got it. How is that possible?"

Corin pulled his uniform top back on. "Gear up, we're going to find out. If someone's hacked our system we are well and truly screwed. Rileeta, you have to stay here."

"I don't want to! I want to go with you!"

He knelt back down, "Listen, I know you want to help but you can't do what we do, OK? The team is like a family. We always, always, always, do what is best for the team. We look out for each other, protect each other, no matter what. I know it will be scary to be here by yourself, but we need you to stay here – guard our rucks and don't make any noise at all, OK? We'll be back soon – trust me, OK?"

She shrank into herself. "Promise me you'll come back."

He smiled, "I promise. We won't be long, just don't move and don't make any noise and you'll be fine. We'll be back in about an hour. That's not very long." and the team moved out, disappearing into the rocks and the dim, broken shadow-pairs from the two moons.

Twenty minutes later, the team was in a rough semi-circle, using their optics to examine the entrance to the cave where Trellos' symbol was locating. Veth said, "Getting some thermals, Cap."

"Anything anywhere else? This reeks of a trap."

"Not even a whisper. It's quiet, Cap. Too quiet."

"You watch too many bad entertainments, Veth. Ason, how close can you get?"

"I'll steal their pants and be back before they know I'm here, Cap."

"Leave the pants, just get close enough to get a view in that cave and tell me what you see."

There was a pair of clicks in his ear and he watched Ason's symbol take a wandering course close to the cave entrance. He was perhaps ten meters from the entrance when he reported in. "Cap, something is seriously weird here."

"What have you got?"

"It looks like Trellos, I think. But there's another Dosadi female, a human male, and a Hydran male."

"You're not very funny, Ason."

"Sending a feed now, Cap."

Corin's eyepiece blanked and showed an enhanced close-up into the cave. There was a Dosadi female laying flat on her back and from what was visible, it was Trellos. Hard to tell if she was alive or dead, but the thermal overlay made her look either alive or very recently dead. And sure enough, there was a human, another Dosadi and a Hydran.

The Dosadi turned toward the cave entrance and he was looking directly into his cousin's pretty face. "Okay, looks like we caught a break. It's Ceena. And yeah, that's Tir. Ason, make contact, don't scare them to death, OK? We're gonna get our gear and the kit and we'll be right up. Keep the feed live and add audio, if this goes pear-shaped, I want to know before you do."

There were a pair of clicks in his ear and Ason's symbol began slipping towards the cave.

Half an hour later, the rest of the team joined him in the cave and Soral began doing what he could for Trellos.

Corin set little Rileeta on the ground and turned to his cousins "Ceena! Tir! What the hell are you two doing in this mess? What happened?"

Nelson was in heaven. He made sure to fade into the background as much as possible and was trying to capture everything going on at the same time.

Ceena and Tir gave a brief overview of why they were on Eletha and how they had been fortunate enough to be away from Songte when the attack came. She finished by asking, "What's with the kit, cousin? And why are you here?"

Corin glanced at Rileeta, who was sitting as close to him as she thought she could get away with. "The Caridies were killing everyone. Three of them shot her folks, and shot her. I didn't manage to save the parents, but..."

Nelson interrupted, "You took on three Cardassian Soldiers by yourself?"

"Yeah, that's kinda what we do. Who are you?"

Trellos coughed and said, "Reporter, Cap."

Corin's face went blank. "A reporter?"

He held his hand out, "Jonathon Nelson, Commander. I'm reporting for Argus – don't worry, I won't be sending anything up without your..."

Corin had drawn his sidearm and had placed the silencer flat against his forehead. "I'm sorry. I've got no time for reporters and we can't risk being compromised."

Nelson's heart was hammering. This was closer to death than he'd ever been. "I'm neutral. I'm not going to..."

"Sorry." His finger dropped down to the trigger and there was a small whispery voice in the darkness.

"Is he a bad person?"

Nelson's eyes were closed. He wasn't religious at all, but at just that moment he was offering a very heartfelt prayer to any god that would listen. The silencer was a cold circle in the middle of his forehead and it wasn't moving at all. He wondered if his glasses would record the flash when it fired.

"Well, sort of, Rileeta, it's complicated." His finger was still on the trigger. Why didn't he fire? This idiot was a massive security risk to this mission and any others if he went and reported on their tactics, gear, members – why did he give two shits what some kit thought?

The team were watching Corin, but no one was saying anything.

"What did he do wrong?"

"It's not like that. It's what he might do. See, he puts the team at risk. He puts all of us at risk. They might find us because of him."

Nelson was whispering, "No, no, no I swear it, I won't do anything, nothing you don't want me to do I swear it."

"Like you said I would if I cried? Would you shoot me?"

His finger moved up along the frame, "Of course not, Rileeta. No one's going to hurt you." He paused for a second, and re-holstered the pistol. Nelson began to shake uncontrollably.

Trion offered, "A little tense there, Cap."

"Yeah, a little. Listen, you – Nelson was it? Walk with me, all right?"

His eyes widened, "Are you going to..."

"No, not like that. But you and I need to have a heart to heart, just you and I. Outside. Everyone else, wait here. I'll be right back." his nose twitched at the sudden strong scent and he glanced at Nelson's chalk-white face, "Sorry, _we'll_ be right back. Both of us."

They stepped a few meters away from the cave entrance and Corin turned on the reporter. He spoke in a calm, casual tone as though he were discussing the weather. "I'm going to regret this, I'm sure. When we exfiltrate, you will surrender to me every bit of data you record in its raw form. I will give you back what you may have. You will not report anything I do not specifically approve. If you ever make me even suspect that you are going to break your word on this, I will find you and you will wish that I had only killed you. There is no place in this galaxy that you are safe from me. Do you understand me?"

Nelson, mute, only nodded. He had interviewed killers before. Sick men who enjoyed tormenting their victims. He had once done a special on cannibal serial killers, spending hours talking with them. Not one of them filled him with an icy certainty of his own frailty like the blue-eyed thing standing in front of him right then.

"Give me your word of honor."

"I swear it, sir."

Corin nodded, "All right then. Let's get back inside."

On the way back in, Nelson surreptitiously checked his pants for wetness.

Corin looked around at his team. The cave was too small to exclude all the civilians; there was just no help for it. "Okay, the original plan is pretty well screwed. We've got one badly wounded teammate, four civs, and we've still got to recon the Cardie CP, disable their transporter jammer and get to the rally point in 38 hours, almost exactly." He glanced at the count-down chrono showing in the upper right corner of his eyepiece. "I'm open to suggestions."

Trellos said, "We've got a couple of advantages out here – the transporter jammer is pretty weak. I bet Trion and I can set this gear up as a bastardized pattern enhancer and they can get us all in one go."

"One go is all we get. But they're expecting six, not ten. And they're expecting us at a rally point in the middle of Korel, not way the hell out here in the desert. Try again."

Veth said, "Well, we just need to find some way to signal them – tight-beam maybe?"

"The _Tarak i_s in the middle of 200 Cardassian ships and tucked underneath a battleship. Anything we send to her, the battleship at least is going to hear, more likely everyone anywhere near her. It would be like shouting 'We are here!' Try again."

Rileeta's quiet little voice chimed in, "What if you whispered?" No one had told her she wasn't supposed to contribute. Ceena put her arm around her shoulders and said, "Shhhh."

Corin actually smiled at that. "Then they wouldn't hear us, Rileeta, but thank..."

"Actually, Cap, we might be able to make that work. We could split it up into a whisper." Trion said.

"Strike, if you're being funny, now is not the time."

Trellos asked, "Pico power, Strike?"

"Yeah. If Lorenth is on defense, he'd notice it. And our shield harmonics are different than theirs – they wouldn't modulate."

"Okay you two, what the he_ll i_s pico power and what does that have to do with shield harmonics?"

Trion said, "It's sort of a shot in the dark, Cap. A whisper on a scream, if you will. See, the theory is we tight-beam a message to the _Tarak. _But not using regular systems. We beam it in overlapping harmonic frequencies – chosen to oscillate against the shield harmonics on the _Tarak. _Each pulse is just a pico-watt more than is needed to reach the ship. But when all the harmonics add up when they hit the shields, it's enough to cause feedback and the shields surge up and down in strength.

Anyone on the defense console would notice it, and Lorenth is sharp, he'd figure out the surges were code pulses in a second. But see, the Cardie's shields run on different frequencies than ours so they wouldn't get the oscillation effect and the amount of power in any one frequency is so low, they'd never notice it."

Corin studied his Team NCO. "So this depends on you two being able to jury-rig all our commo gear and intel gear into some mad-scientist transmitter, send a message that we don't know they'll even recognize as a message, decode it, and beam ten of us up out here, instead of six of us where we're supposed to be. Right?"

"Well, it's even a little worse than that. We wouldn't even really know if it was reaching them or not because the power is too low. We'd have to guess at the power level; we've got a pretty good idea of the right range, but we don't want to use too much or the Cardies will hear us, or too little and it won't get through."

"You realize that if this _doesn't w_ork we're going to be sitting out here trying to survive until the Fleet comes and retakes this dirtball, right? And they'll be trying it without all our intel?"

"It's either that, Cap, or we leave Trellos and the civs to rot while we go home. Your call."

"Cute, Strike. But it's always my call." He considered the very few options he had. "How long to rig up your pico-thingy and the pattern enhancer?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to waste any time starting, Cap. It's not like we're wiring up a door chime here. And we're gonna need all of Trellos' fancy intel gear. Especially the frequency analyzers and the sensor traps."

Corin thought for a moment. "Fine. People have been collecting intel with eyes, ears, and nose for a lot longer than we've had these pretty toys. Veth, Ason, Soral, you're with me. Leave everything but the water and two rations and we're outta here.

"We'll be back in 37 hours so we've got a little lee-way. We need to seriously hoof it here, gentlemen. It's 40 klicks to Korel and it's crawling with Cardies. Should be fun!"

He stood up and Rileeta said, "I want to come too!"

Ceena said, "Shh, you can't, kit. They're going to be running as fast as they can for hours and hours and then sneaking around so no one can see them. Then they have to run back as fast as they can. You can help here, you've got little hands and those two can use your help."

"No! I wanna go with him!"

Corin knelt down, "Hey, remember what I said about the team? It's always all about the team. You do what is best for the team, not just what you want. And this is my cousin! So she knows what's best for the team too. You should always listen to her." Rileeta looked up at Ceena, her ears and whiskers drooping. He asked her, "Can I count on you Rileeta?"

Veth shook his head, "Seriously, Cap, you can't talk to kits like that. They don't..."

She glared at Veth. "Yes. I'll stay here."

Corin grinned at her and Veth grumbled, "Why doesn't _my_ kit ever listen like that?"


	5. Chapter 4

_**CHAPTER 4**_

"_SuvwI'pu' qan tu'lu'be'" (There are no old warriors.)_

_- Klingon Proverb_

TOWN OF KOREL, ELETHA, DELTA ERANI SYSTEM, DOSADI IMPERIUM

JANUARY, 2310

As usual, the team had made it to, and through Korel without attracting attention. Years of experience operating in hostile territory brought with it a cadence and a flow that only the worst of luck could break. A number of Cardassian troops had come within a whisker of one or another of the raiders, and never noticed a thing.

They were moving back through Korel, hitting the holes they missed on their first pass when a large Glinn stepped out of a roundhouse that the Cardassians were evidently using to quarter their troops. Ason silently melted into the scattered scrubby bushes that surrounded the home and put his face flat in the dirt, trusting to the dim light, broken shadows and the technological marvel of his active camouflage uniform.

Everyone else froze as well, seeking cover quickly and quietly while trying to get a supporting field of fire. Corin raised his silenced pistol. The range was almost 40 m, a long shot for the little sub-sonic rounds but...The Cardie looked up at the twin moons and stepped towards Ason's hiding place. Corin lined the sights up and began the rhythm of marksmanship; Steady platform – his arm was braced against the wall of the house, his right forearm wresting on his left wrist. Consistent sight picture – the back of the target's head was a clear dark circle surrounding the three dots of the night sights on the pistol. Breath control – He inhaled and let his finger drift down onto the trigger.

And the Cardassian stopped, inches short of Ason's prone form. Everyone on the team prayed that he would simply turn around and go back inside. Instead, his hands fumbled at the front of his uniform – even from behind the team could tell he was doing something; Was he reaching for a weapon? Had he seen Ason?

When he began to urinate on the Dosadi weapons expert, the splashing sound coming clearly through Ason's comm system, the difficulty became controlling their laughter. Worse, this particular Cardie officer seemed to have a gigantic bladder. The splashing kept going and going...

Soral was biting his lip. He knew if he lost it now, everyone would. The certainty that this would expose the team was enough to keep his humor under control. After the slaughter they had seen, they all needed a laugh, but now was not the time. The Cardies had evidently taken significant casualties from the Dosadi civilians and had responded savagely. Pay-back would have to come later, though.

Finally, the Cardassian Soldier let out a sigh, put himself back into his uniform and headed back inside. Poor Ason stood up and tried to quietly shake as much of the piss off of himself as he could – Corin could see the irritation and disgust on his face through his optics. That had shown excellent discipline; Later, the team would give him plenty of shit for that particular event though.

They started moving again, scouting troop locations, sensors, weapons systems, communications points, vehicle storage points – anything they could find. And always, there were the bodies of Dosadi civilians. Age seemed to provide no protection from the Cardassian's wrath. Corin estimated that perhaps 40% of Korel's population had been killed in either the initial attacks or reprisals since then. He paused for a moment to catch his breath and to try to rub some of the aches out of his knees.

He thought to himself, "This used to be a lot easier." The eight hours it had taken them to cover the 40 km to Korel had been brutal, but the 18 hours they had spent creeping around town going up, down, crawling, kneeling and sprinting had been worse. His right knee was swollen and stiff; He had twisted it on the run in and the abuse it had suffered since hadn't helped.

Later, he would reflect that his own self-absorption was what let the Cardassian escape his notice. He stepped away from the roundhouse he had been hiding by just as a young Cardie came out and walked directly into Corin. Corin was fast. His combat knife was in his hand and streaking into the young man's sternum in the blink of an eye.

The Cardassian was faster. His left hand grabbed Corin's camo-blurred wrist and the two began a silent struggle in the moonlight. The young man drew his own knife and Corin was forced to grab his wrist – but the young Cardie was dangerously strong. Corin felt like his own wrist was going to break.

There was no sound as the two poured every ounce of energy and effort into trying to force the other man to drop their weapon, or to strike with their own. But the Cardie was bigger, stronger, and most of all younger. Corin was panting and his right knee was slowly collapsing and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. It finally folded under him with a wet snap, leaving him struggling against the Cardie's weight as well as his strength, his own knife completely under his enemy's control and the enemy knife inexorably dropping down on him.

The Cardie jerked, his eyes going wide and his arms went slack. Corin pushed his arms away, but his right hand was numb he couldn't even feel his knife any more. The Cardassian rolled off to the side and slid into the dirt and Corin looked up to see an elderly Dosadi pull his pick-axe out of the body's upper spine. He thought to himself, "What the hell? They still use pick-axes?"

The old man held his hand up to his mouth and then waved Corin away emphatically. He sat down on the dead Cardassian and took out a small flask. From the smell, it was Dosadi whiskey. He smiled at Corin as he struggled back to his feet, his right leg refusing to bear much weight. At Corin's questioning look he simply smiled and waved good-bye, taking a long pull from his flask.

Corin shook his head and limped away as quickly and quietly as he could. He hoped they killed the old man quickly. He wished there had been some way to have saved him, but he had clearly made his choice. He would find out who that man was and honor him for saving his life.

The leg was almost useless. It was getting harder and harder to move quietly. The rest of the team was already on the outskirts and he was almost three blocks short and moving slower as time went on. His eyepiece showed him Soral and Veth looping back towards him, coming in from behind and from either side, following procedure to see what the problem was.

When they got to him, they quickly slung their weapons, draped one of his arms over each shoulder, and made a seat with their other hands, carrying him quickly to where Ason waited for them, covering the approaches to the rally point.

"What happened, Cap?" Veth whispered while Soral was checking his leg out.

"God damn Cardie walked out of a roundhouse straight into me. We got into it, knee gave out."

"You leave a body?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it though. Some old man hit him in the spine with a pick-axe. He's just sitting on the body drinking whiskey. He's taking the heat for us so we'd better get the hell out of here with this intel."

Soral looked up, "Cap, I can't fix this. Your ligaments are gone. I can brace it, but..."

"Do it. I can make it."

"You're gonna run 40 klicks on a busted knee? Even if you make it, you're gonna lose the knee."

"So, I do regen again. Brace it. We gotta get moving."

Soral shook his head and began doing what he could for his CO. There wasn't much to do, so it didn't take long. A hypo-spray of pain killer, another of anti-inflammatory, and a stiff, tight wrapping was about it.

Corin stood, the leg took some weight and he tried not to grimace. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up."

Veth snorted. "Screw that, Cap. One team, one fight. Let's make tracks."

They took turns setting the pace, always keeping Corin's limping, sweating form close at hand. Sometimes, despite his protests, they'd carry him for a few hundred meters. Corin always remembered that run in the increasing daylight as the longest, most painful 12 hours of his life. Whenever they had to hide, it meant dropping down flat – instantly and silently. And then getting back on his feet. Every time his knee moved, he could feel bone grinding. The knee itself felt like someone was shoving metal wires through it with every hopping, dragging step. Below that, his lower leg and foot were numb and wooden. The Cardie had evidently cracked his wrist since that had swollen painfully as well and his right hand was almost as useless as his leg. The pain had long since passed the point where he could keep tears from running down his cheeks.

Back in the cave, Trion turned to Trellos and said, "It sure looks like it's working. If we got the power levels right, and if they're paying attention, and if the Cardie's don't pick up on it, we should be out of here in just about two hours."

Trellos asked Rileeta, "Did you get that optical cable stuck on the blue thing?"

There was a muffled "I think so." from behind one of the small boxes Trellos had been carrying. The little black furred kit pulled her nose out of the box and said, "I did!"

"Ceena, it's a good thing she was here – it's a lot easier with tiny little fingers!"

Rileeta smiled at the praise. "Did it work?"

The younger woman used her good arm to press a control and there was a snapping sound. All four of the devices that had been modified sparked and exuded a golden glow. "Yup! You did it, Rileeta!" She turned it back off again. "We're good, Strike. The enhancer looks good. I don't think we should turn it on until just before they're gonna energize though or the Cardies will probably notice it."

"Yeah. Assuming they make it back in time." She was eying her own count-down chronometer. The team was due in a little less than an hour.

Ceena and Tir had been spending their time going over their research data and discussing it's significance to their overall thesis. Nelson finally couldn't stand it any longer.

"How can you two sit there and be so calm? They might not get back. This might not work at all. We might not get out of here, you know."

Ceena said, "What's to worry about? Corin's a professional and so is his team. This is what they do, all day, every day." she shrugged, "And if we don't get out of here, so what? The Imperium will retake it eventually. And you and Tir are neutral. You just head back into the village and you're fine."

He shook his head, "Not fine. They're going to wonder where we were. And if they figure out a bunch of Dosadi commandos are sneaking around on their planet they're going to ask us some very pointed questions. And the Cardassians don't ask nicely." he swallowed and continued, "Besides, your cousin isn't going to let me go anywhere."

"You worry too much. He'll get here. Saving people is what he does."

"I thought he just killed them." Nelson rubbed the spot in the middle of his forehead again. It still felt chilly.

Rileeta piped up again, "He saved me!"

Nelson thought to himself, Ah, a human interest story. Bloodthirsty Killer Saves Child; That could be a good one. Making sure he had a good angle in the poor light, he said, "He did? How did it happen, Rileeta? Can you tell me the story?"

Trion watched the timer in her glasses count down while the child told her tale.

"Those ugly people came and they blew up a lot of houses from the sky and then they came to our town and told everyone that we were theirs and we had to do what they said and they'd kill anyone who didn't do what they said!"

Nelson smiled, the kid was photogenic as hell. She looked like a three-foot high black cat with a piping, clear voice and bright green eyes that glowed in the dim light of the cave. "And did everyone do what they said?"

"No! Some people fought them, but they killed them. It was awful. And then they would kill other people who didn't do anything! They started going into everyone's houses and looking at everything and if they didn't like it or if you did anything they'd kill you! I saw them kill people. I didn't like it, it was so scary. I ran home and hid."

"Did your parents tell you it would be OK?"

She looked at him, "They really weren't my parents. Well sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"My mommy died when I was really little. She got really sick and she never got better." Her ears, whiskers, and tail were all drooping. Nelson zoomed in tight on her face, the downcast eyes making the very picture of sorrow and loss.

"Was that here?"

"No, we used to live on Dosad. I liked it there. It was green and there were lakes and trees and all my friends were there and it wasn't as hot and Daddy smiled a lot more, but after Mommy died, he got really sad and he just couldn't get very happy any more. "

"So he moved you here?"

"Yes, he said he wanted a.." she thought hard "fresh start?" she nodded in satisfaction, "He said we could like start over and it would help him not be so sad about Mommy because it was so different. He used to fix big machines. He said they needed people to do that here."

"Did you like it here?"

"A little. There's so many different smells and all the plants and animals are different and there's these cute little furry animals that run around at night and they have bright eyes and long fluffy tails and really big ears and if you give them treats they'll be your friend and they're really small and they sort of sing to you when they want a treat. But I miss the water and the trees and the grass and my friends."

Nelson wondered when the child was going to inhale, but she was getting away from the main story..."What happened to your daddy?"

Ears and tail drooped again. She looked down at the floor. "A little bit ago something went wrong in the mine. They said something blew up."

Zooming in tightly on her face. "And then what happened, Rileeta?"

Tears were welling in her eyes. "He died."

Ceena moved to her and he pulled his focus out. She glared at him while she held the poor thing close. Nelson was used to being glared at. One advantage to the sensor glasses was that you could adjust them just by sliding your finger along the temple. Usually the subjects weren't even aware there was a camera involved at all. "I'm sorry, Rileeta. That's awful."

She sniffled, "I miss him."

"Of course you do, hon. So did you go to an orphanage or something after that?"

Ceena snorted, "You don't know a damn thing about Dosadi, do you Nelson?"

"Not really."

"Children are everyone's responsibility, not just their biological parents. We don't _have_ orphans. We're one big family. We take care of each other, always."

"Well how do you figure out where an orpha...someone with no living parents goes?"

"They'll go stay with their next closest relatives usually."

"But she's out here with no relatives?"

Rileeta looked up from snuffling in Ceena's fur. "I really liked Doran and Seel, and they liked me so I stayed with them and they took care of me."

"See?" Ceena asked.

"Did that happen right after the accident?"

"They're the ones who told me about Daddy. They said I could stay with them if I wanted. And I did."

"So how long was it until the Cardassians came?"

"Not very long, I guess. Not even a year."

"And did your...I mean did um...Doran and Seel fight them?"

"No! They didn't do anything! We didn't! We were having dinner is all! And they smashed our door and laughed at Doran and made us all stand up. We didn't do anything!"

"What did they do?"

She sniffed again, tears running down her face. "They shot us."

He panned the camera down to the bloody bandage around her chest. "But they didn't kill you?"

"They tried! Corin didn't let them! He flew into the room and killed all of them so fast they couldn't even move! He used that funny little gun that just makes a like spitting sound it just went pffft! Pfft pfft! Pfft pfft! And I fell down and it hurt so bad I thought they killed me and then he was telling me I'd be OK. He wouldn't let them kill me."

Yeah, I know that gun, Nelson thought to himself and shivered. "What will you do now, Rileeta? Where will you stay?"

Ceena stared at him. The child's adoptive parents weren't even buried yet and he was asking her to plan out her future.

"I'm staying with him." She announced with all the certainty of a child.

Trellos stifled a laugh and disguised it as a cough. Trion's face spoke volumes. Ceena said, "Oh, kit, that might not be for the best, he's uh...he works a lot and he..."

"I don't care. He's awesome."

She tried again, "But kit, I'm sure you have relatives back on Dosad who will worry about you. Don't you..."

"I don't think so. My gramma and grandpa died before I was even born and I don't have any blood-cousins. He'll keep me safe and I'll be really good and I'll be like the best kit ever."

Nelson kept the focus wide on the two females. Trion decided to change the topic and he panned over to her. "Well, they're late – but I've got them on my tracker. Something's not right though, they're moving slow and they're still a few klicks out. We've only got an hour and a bit so they'd better step it right up."

He asked, "How do we know if it's working or not?"

The old NCO looked at him with scorn. "We'll know if it's working in 62 minutes when we materialize aboard the _Tarak_ or when we're still sitting here enjoying your scintillating conversation."

"Oh."

Another half-an-hour had passed and Trion was getting worried. "I'll be right back. Something is not right and I need to get eyes on them." Ceena and Tir looked at each other, and Ceena made sure she gathered the kit into a loose, group hug.

Trion slid up to the line of rocks that partially screened the cave mouth from the open desert and slowly poked her head over. Training her optics towards where she knew here three teammates had to be, she waited patiently for the image to stabilize. Then she frowned. They were maybe a klick out but she could _see_ them. Their active camo was masked by muddy brown stains and two of them were half-carrying a third who was struggling to run. There was no way to separate the images in her eyepiece and know who was carrying whom. She tracked up and behind them – in the distance was a Cardassian patrol craft flying a lazy course. She didn't think it had seen them, but if they weren't under cover in another fifteen minutes or so, it surely would. She watched for a few moments, checking their pace. It looked like they would make it – barely.

She poked her head back into the cave, "Nelson, you're with me. Move."

He came out into the evening light, "What do you need?"

"Start running – I'll explain on the way." They took off towards the struggling trio. "One of our guys is hurt. You're going to help me carry him back so we can all get under cover and get out of here before that patrol over there finds us and kills us all."

"I can't! I'm a neutral! I..."

"Shut the fuck up. I didn't give you an option."

He shut up. In about five minutes they reached the three men. She ordered, "We got him – you two get to the cave. Move it!"

Corin was still hobbling forward, his fur sweat-stained, muddy and matted. There was blood soaking his pant leg. Trion showed Nelson how to make a seat with their hands, "Hop on, Cap." But she didn't wait for him, swinging her arm into his rump and scooping him up. "RUN Nelson. If you fucking drop him I will rip out your god-damn lungs and eat them while you watch."

He believed her. Fervently, completely, and passionately. He ran. A few minutes later, they ducked into the cool air of the cave and he fell to his knees vomiting and gasping for breath. The three men were flat on their backs, shaking with exhaustion. Corin was trying to find some way to take the fire out of his knee and Rileeta had one hand stuck almost entirely in her mouth, staring at him in horror.

Panting, Trion said to Trellos, "Two minutes. At minus 20 seconds, turn that sucker on and at plus 40 turn it off. There's a patrol out there. Ceena, Tir, put all the gear inside the enhanced space. Don't dally."

The clock ticked down and Corin panted out, "I'm OK, Rileeta. Just tired and a little banged up. It's OK." She squirmed her way out of Ceena's arms and plastered herself to Corin's filthy side, wrapping her arms around his chest. He gave her as much of a squeeze as he could with his left arm. "It's OK."

"Mark." Trion said. The timer in her eyepiece turned red and the seconds ticked up.

After thirty seconds she said, "Lorenth..."

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS TARAK, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

"...you blind fucking _ASSHOLE."_

The transporter crewman looked at her and said, "What the hell, Strike? What'd _I_ do?'

It was some time before she could get a coherent answer from the weird mix of people laying all over her transporter platform, laughing. Looking the disheveled group over, she keyed the comm system, "Medical team to the transporter room, two non-urgent litter, one walking wounded."

When the medical team arrived with a pair of floats, they started loading Trellos and Corin on while the other medics started scanning Rileeta and the rest of them. Nelson kept his glasses running; He had heard of the Raider class starships but like active camouflage, he had suspected they were more rumor than fact.

A female med-tech told Rileeta, "Hey now, you've got to let go of him so we can get him on the float and I can check you out!"

"NO!"

"Look, if you try to scratch me one more time I'm going to sedate you!"

"PFFFFT!"

Corin chuckled, "Leave her be, I'm pretty sure that float can handle the extra weight. She's had a bad time of it."

The tech frowned, "Yes, sir. Can you at least tell her to let me scan her? That bandage is filthy."

"Ri, settle down, she's trying to help. They're on our side. Well, usually."

She gave Corin a look just this side of open disrespect. "Thanks, sir." And began pushing the float towards sick bay. By the time they had gotten there, Rileeta had settled down, but was still clinging to Corin and eying the tech suspiciously. The rest of the group were walking along behind the floats, still catching their breath and trying to settle in to the drastic change of scene.

Nelson had decided that he had landed in the pot of gold for a reporter. The family he was investigating was even more interesting than he thought! There were so many different stories he could pursue here that he could probably make the rest of his career off of just these people. Assuming Corin didn't kill him, of course. He needed to find a way to be able to publish...Perhaps if _he_ died instead? Considering Corin's choice of career, that seemed likely; All he had to do was just keep following along and wait. He smiled to himself and continued capturing the scene. He had enough data storage available to capture _months_ worth of basic visuals and audio.

Ceena swore, "Damn, I left a bunch of my favorite tools in the ATV."

Trion said, "We'll get 'em back for you." She grinned evilly, "Sooner than the Cardies expect, I'd bet."

Up on the Bridge, Commander Lagos was watching the underside of the Cardassian battleship he had been hiding under slide slowly past. "Any sign they noticed us?"

The defense officer answered, "Not sure. Scanner activity picked up right before we went back into cloak. Maybe?"

"Come left two degrees and speed us up as much as you dare. We need to clear that datum if they got a hit." The Raider began to slip away from the bigger ship but it was apparent that the Cardassians had been alerted to something.

"Two frigates coming in, sir."

"Cuddle up behind that destroyer. Silent running – everything non-essential off, maximum power to the cloak." The helmsman gently curved the _Tarak_ up and over a Cardassian destroyer that was in a higher orbit than the battleship. Every light in the Raider went dark, life-support blowers shut off, and all work not directly related to keeping them moving stopped. Even conversation came to a halt; Anything that might produce any sort of energy that the enemy sensors could detect.

Down in the pitch-black Sick Bay, Rileeta clung even more tightly to Corin. "It's OK." he whispered, "Just be quiet for a little while and it'll be fine." He felt her snuggle into the space between his left arm and his chest and he gently patted her back.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Gul Tennekt asked his defense officer, "Anything?"

The man shook his head. "No, sir. But, I swear to you, there was something there. One sweep, nothing, then a solid hit, then nothing again."

"A hit on what?"

"It hadn't firmed up. But here, sir, look." he brought up the sensor logs. "That's a warp drive signature."

The science officer came over, "It's a fragment if it is one. Look, that's not right. And the level is very, very low." She shook her head. "Maybe an echo from one of the other ships, or interference from someone else's sensor sweep. That's almost touching us."

"I don't think so. Look, there's a mass indication too."

"So if it's a ship, where did it go? A cloaked fighter? Or shuttlecraft? There aren't any cloaking devices that small. And if it is, why would someone drop out of cloak for a couple seconds then go back in? _While_ they're right under us."

Legate Dukat, watching and listening as always, ordered, "Order two ships to come in and do a search all around us. Make sure there isn't anyone spying on us."

Tennekt issued his orders and told the rest of the fleet to increase their sensor sweeps. They watched as two frigates began nosing under and around their vessel.

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS TARAK, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

JANUARY, 2310

Whispering, Lagos ordered "Good – keep hopping us from one ship to the next. Once we get past that transport, increase speed to full impulse. Get ready to do a short jump – that nebula over there. We'll just sneak in there, get some solid navigational data and get the hell out of here. What is that nebula?"

"The Torelli Nebula, sir. It's kind of a mess in there. Lots of H+, H2+ and debris. It's extraordinarily dense. We can hide there, but if we move very fast we're going to leave a wake and our sensors are going to be degraded."

"Fine. Just so long as we're away from these charming fellows."

A few minutes later, the _Tarak_ shook herself like a racehorse in a starting gate and made the short hop into the edge of the nebula. Lagos relaxed, "Thank the gods, I wa..."

"Enemy cruisers dead ahead!"

"Maintain silent running, all stop! What the hell? Where did they come from?!" The _Tarak_ dropped her speed to nothing relative to the motion of the materials that made up the nebula. Two Cardassian cruisers sailed slowly towards them, leaving a roiled wake behind them as they went.

"Sir, they're gonna hit us."

"Drop us down as fast as you can without leaving a wake..." The _Tarak_ began descending, slowly. "Keep the main viewer on the trail ship."

The crew watched the cruiser swelling until it filled the viewer, then almost close enough to touch, flew past and away behind them. Everyone on the Bridge exhaled with relief. Lagos asked, "Why would they be cruising around in here? Something stinks. Follow their wake. Same speed they were making. Maintain silent running, but turn the life-support back on, the air's getting stale."

An hour later, they found what they were looking for. The sensor operator said, "Sir, there's a _base_ in here!"

"All stop. Get as much sensor info as you can on that without them knowing we're here."

"Gods, sir, there's a whole fleet around it. A half dozen cruisers, frigates, destroyers, freighters."

The defense officer spoke, "Sir, the cloak isn't working very well in here. We left a wake and we've got to be showing up on optical if they're paying attention. Ah, shit, increased sensor probes. They're noticing something..."

"Back us up out of here, now. Half the speed we came in. reciprocal course, move!" The _Tarak_ began creeping backwards and in seconds it was apparent that they had passed beyond detection range. "Helm, get us the hell out of here. Change course, straight up, as soon as we can get a fix, warp us for home." He sat back in his chair and rubbed his hand along his ear. He was getting too old for this shit.

Down in sick-bay once the lights had come back on, the medics resumed checking everyone out. Trellos was the most seriously injured and they sedated her almost immediately. When they had finished their checks, Corin asked, "So how's it look for her, Doc?"

"She'll live. We can fix the breaks easily enough and the torn up shoulder. There's some swelling in the brain I'm concerned about and the burns all over her head are infected with something. With the skull fracture, I want to make sure that infection hasn't gotten to her brain. Just being careful is all."

"I appreciate that. You'll let me know as soon as you have anything solid?"

"Of course. But. "

"I hate it when docs say 'But'". That's always bad news."

"Your leg. It's pretty well ruined. I can fix the fractured wrist easily enough, but you absolutely destroyed your lower right leg."

Ri was still curled up on Corin, watching and listening.

"So what, another course of regen?"

"Corin, it's almost entirely a closed wound. Several of the tendons are ripped off, and you've turned most of the actual knee joint into powder and fragments. The tibia has split and part of that has ruptured through your shin. You apparently broke the ankle at some point and continued to run on it. That's such a mess it's not even funny. Do you know what I'm going to have to _do_ to you so that the gel has a chance to fix that?"

"What, cut it off?"

He snorted. "You'd be in regen for about two months and therapy for six, and with your records, I'm not even sure it would work. You've been in regen more than anyone I can find data on. Corin, your cells aren't capable of being infinitely copied and forced to regrow again and again. The only chance I've got to make this work is to cut your leg open like gutting a fish, take out the fragments, actually _stitch_ your tendons back on, leave the wounds open and stick your whole leg in the gel and let it work from the inside out. Assuming it even works again."

"Oh, _that_ sounds like fun."

"I'm going to have to put you out, you know. I can't use pain-killers while your leg's in the gel." Two other med-techs had come up on either side of Corin and Rileeta was watching them warily.

"Not happening, Doc. We've got work to do yet, and I need to be awake for that. I'm good with everything else – I'll tough it out."

"No, you won't. I need the leg to be motionless and your vitals to be stable. Pain depresses healing response and as exhausted as your cells are, I need every advantage I can get." He nodded.

"Look Doc, just..." There was a hissing sound as one of the tech's pressed a hypo onto his shoulder and Corin sagged into unconsciousness. Rileeta attacked, swiping with her claws and trying to push the man's hand away.

She shouted, "NO! HE SAID NO! GET AWAY!"

The tech yelled and pulled his arm out of reach, "Hey! Back off, kit! We're trying to help him!"

"GET AWAY!"

Veth laughed, "Damn, that kit's got some fight!"

Trion knew she should say something, but she was enjoying watching the kit take on three adults and holding her own. There didn't seem to be any real harm for a few minutes.

Ceena came to the rescue as the Doctor and both techs were trying to grab the frantic, hissing, spitting kit and keep all their fingers attached at the same time. She yelled, "RILEETA! Stop that right this _instant!_"

Her ears were flat on her head, her fur was spiked out and she was kneeling on Corin's chest. She whipped around to look at Ceena. "But he said NO!"

"Rileeta. Corin told you I know what's best for the team, right? That you should listen to me?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Then I need you to get down right now and let them help him. Corin is my cousin and he can be the most stubborn, pig-headed idiot in the galaxy when it comes to his _own _health. He does things he would never tolerate from his team. Do you understand what I mean?"

"He doesn't take care of himself?"

"Right. He takes care of everyone else and he'll kill himself to do it. We need to not let him do that. It's up to _us _take care of him because he won't take care of himself, all right? The team needs to help him whether he wants us to or not."

The rest of the raiders were trying not to smile. Soral was studying a particularly fascinating piece of wall.

Ceena continued. "You need to apologize. And get down."

The little girl looked up at the adults who had given her plenty of room while Ceena was talking. "I'm sorry." She got back down to Corin's side and took hold of his hand.

The doctor said, "Um, all the way down, please. We need to work on him and we can't do that with you right there." he looked at Ceena for some back up, but Rileeta climbed down on her own.

Ceena said, "That's better. Now let them finish fixing your burn and then we'll go find where they're going to have us sleep."

She moved meekly over to the diagnostic bed that they had set up for her and let the wary techs remove the soiled, twisted bandage from her chest.

Nelson just smiled to himself. He could run a whole series on the feisty little girl. Her dedication to the cold-hearted killer was completely adorable; people across the galaxy would eat it up.

It was midnight aboard the _Tarak_ when the night-duty tech went in to check on Corin. He sighed loudly. The kit was back. For the third time tonight. He noted down the vital signs, checked to be sure the sedation was holding and that his leg was where it belonged and looked at the kit.

Evidently the civilian female had cleaned her up; she certainly smelled better and her fur looked sleek and fluffy. He'd never seen anyone with all black fur before. He knew it was possible, it was just very rare, and very pretty too, he decided. One day he'd have kits of his own; He hoped they were as loyal as this little one.

He moved over to a storage compartment and took out a blanket. Moving back over to the pair, he tucked it around the little girl and gently stroked her head. She made a quiet little sound and snuggled more tightly into the crook of Corin's arm.

The tech smiled and went back to his console. No real point to having her taken back to her quarters again. She'd only come back. Better to just let her sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5**_

"_Without love, our earth is a tomb"  
- Robert Browning – Earth (Human)_

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS TARAK, UNDER WAY

FEBRUARY, 2310

Ceena explained to Rileeta, "Ri, he's not going to know what's happening when he wakes up. He's trained to be very, very dangerous and he would hurt you before he even knew it was you. Get down now before I get cross."

The little girl looked at Ceena, trying to gauge just how serious the demand was and decided she wasn't going to be able to push this any further. She climbed off of the diagnostic bed and the unconscious Corin and went to hold Ceena's hand. She seemed impervious to wheedling, whining, begging, or even raw cuteness. She would have to figure out some method to get her own way, which was the only sensible way, usually.

The doc just shook his head and administered a hypo to Corin, and stepped back. He woke with a start and a quick assessment of where he was and what was happening. Still groggy, he asked, "What the hell?"

Doctor Newel said, "Welcome back, Corin. You're a lucky old bas..." he glanced over at the kit and coughed, "...man, aren't you? We finally got the regen to work. You're leg's healed up and you should be back to your old self once you build the strength back up. Just a couple of weeks of slowly building PT should do it. We've added to your collection of scars though."

He squinted and blinked a couple of times. "Did you put me out?"

Trion guffawed, "What do you think, Cap? Had to get your leg fixed and that wasn't going to happen while you were being your usual pig-headed self. Relax, he talked to me first."

"Strike, you go waaay past your authority sometimes."

"Yup. That's why I'm the best Team NCO there is. Deal with it."

Rileeta was squirming and trying to get her hand free from Ceena. She finally gave the girl a swat on the rump and leaned over, "Kit, you need to settle down and mind your place."

She looked up at Ceena with her big green eyes like she had just been murdered, her free hand going to her rear end. It had less than no effect on the older woman, who had raised three mixed Hydran/Dosadi children of her own in a very strict society. They locked eyes for almost a full second before Rileeta looked down at the floor.

Corin asked Trion, "What's our status? Everything good?"

"Yup. You've been out for twelve days. We've got a _ton _of intel, we're about a day out of Dosad, everyone but Trellos is up and around and she's awake most of the time and gonna be fine. Our reporter friend is in heaven, sticking his nose anywhere that won't get him shot. At least when he's not trying to decide if you're going to kill and eat him as soon as you wake up. And this little black monster..." she hooked her tail around Rileeta, "has been a complete brat."

The aforementioned monster stuck her tongue out at the non-com's back.

"If you've got a numb spot on your left side, or your arm's asleep it's because she's been pretty much attached to you. We pick her up, unhook her, take her back to her quarters and half an hour later, she's back here. The med-techs finally gave up taking her back at night. I, on the other hand, have never surrendered. But I gotta tell you Cap, she'd give you a run for your money on stubbornness."

She casually turned her head back towards Rileeta, "And you, I believe I said that if you stuck that tongue out at me again, I would slice it off and feed it to Nelson..." her hand came up with a small knife that slid open with a 'snikt'.

Rileeta quickly pulled the offending tongue back where it belonged and clapped her free hand over her mouth, her ears flat back, tail puffed out and her eyes wide. She shook her head back and forth.

Corin laughed, "Maybe give her a pass, just this once, for me, OK Strike?"

She cocked her ear at Corin, "You sure, Cap? You might regret it later."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Next time, it's yours." He tried not to laugh at the child's expression. "How have you been Rileeta?"

"I'm OK. That gunk smelled awful. And your leg looked horrible!" she put on her best hurt/cute expression and continued "And they were mean to me and..."

"If they were mean it's because you needed someone to be mean to you. Complaining about it won't get you anywhere."

She was shocked. These people were _not _normal. They were the strangest, most interesting people she'd ever met. They all had kits but Trellos, some younger than her, some older, and Veth had a little girl that was exactly her age. But none of them cared if she looked cute, or cried, or anything! The only thing that had any effect upon them was simply never quitting. But they didn't quit either, and Ceena was like stone. She didn't put up with anywhere near as much as the rest of them. She could get away with the most with Soral, so naturally he was the one she wheedled the most.

"Um. Well, there's no other kits here and they let me look at all the stuff and I got to see the place they steer it and..."

Ceena interrupted, "Ri, hold on for a little bit, OK? We'll let you get him all caught up in a while."

She sighed heavily, but stopped talking.

"Doc, I can get up?" Corin asked.

"Yes, but your balance is going to be off and you're going to be weak for a while – you've been immobile for almost two weeks."

"I'll work through it. Gonna have to. Lots to get done before we make orbit."

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS TARAK, IN ORBIT OVER DOSAD

FEBRUARY, 2310

The Raiders, along with the four extra-teammates that they had 'acquired' on Eletha finally boarded one of the _Tarak's_ shuttlecraft for the ride down to T'Elesh on Dosad. Unlike the Federation, the Dosadi eschewed the use of transporters most of the time. They were expensive in terms of energy required, and had a history of horrific accidents. 'History' may be too strong a word, considering there had been fewer than a thousand transporter accidents in over a century of use across the galaxy, but to the Dosadi, one was too many. Especially when you could fly. They were all dressed in their usual shore-going rigs, which unfortunately only reinforced other species' view of the Raiders as pirates. Calf-high soft boots, dark blue trousers with a bronze stripe down the leg, and loose, white linen shirts that were laced closed, and a crimson sash.

The Raiders enjoyed the distinction; The uniform was close enough to the regular fleet's arrangement but added that dash of style – at least to their eyes - that they enjoyed. The Raiders were an extremely elite group; There were only a dozen of the Raider class starships and only 24 six-man teams in the entire Imperium. There wasn't a single one of them without a Warrior's Pendant and the honor tattoos around their left eyes tended to extend well onto their face and forehead.

It was late afternoon in T'Elesh when the shuttle set down in the landing field. As soon as the team left the shuttle, they were naturally mobbed by their loved ones. Unlike most Dosadi Imperial Fleet vessels, there were no families aboard the Raider ships. Corin, Nelson and Rileeta were the last three off the shuttlecraft. Corin watched his namesake, Corin and his mate Eletha rubbing happily against Ceena and Tir. It was one of the fun things about coming back to Dosad, watching his team reunite with their mates, parents, and kits. He gave them a wave and a smile.

He slung his ruck onto his back and limped towards the edge of the field with his two charges. Nelson and Rileeta had only the clothes they were wearing. Veth broke away from his mate and kit for a moment. "Cap, you sure you don't want me to take the little one or the reporter-man tonight?"

He laughed, "Veth, your first night home is all yours. Tomorrow you can have Rileeta, I think she'll be thrilled to be part of your family..."

She interrupted, "Nuh-uh! I wanna stay with you!" and held his hand more tightly.

"Don't be silly, kit. I'm a loner, you'd be bored and unhappy. Veth's told you about his daughter, you'd like her! And Nelson I want to keep close to me where I can keep an eye on him." he grinned at the human, not unkindly, "Though I'd bet he'd be happier with you."

Nelson, wisely, kept his mouth closed for a bit. Veth only said, "All right, Cap. But tomorrow, we'll be looking forward to having her with us." He bent down and rubbed his jaw along the little girl's head, who nuzzled him back, giving him a quick Dosadi kiss, with a fast little rough-tongued lick.

They began to walk away from the field and Nelson asked Corin, "So, Commander, where's your family? Isn't there anyone here for you?"

"I didn't want to bother my folks. We'll walk to where they usually stay. No reason for them to walk all the way out here. Besides, they'd worry if I was limping like this, even though I'm fine."

Nelson thought to himself that they were probably right to worry. But his excitement was growing with every step. He was about to meet the very core of his research – Captain Thomas Wilkes and Storm Leader Sooth. He couldn't have caught any more of a break on this story. It was like a dream come true!

When they turned at a roundhouse that was no different than any other, he was a little puzzled. He hadn't seen much of any buildings that indicated any different social status – they were all pretty much alike other than color, decoration, and the plants that clustered around them. Yet he knew these two to have a very high status in both business and military circles; and there were rumors that the Captain was involved in intelligence operations as well. Considering the events he had been involved in, Nelson considered that to be quite likely true.

Corin called out, "Mother! Father! I've got some guests!"

Wilkes and Sooth both came out of the small kitchen buried in the back of the roundhouse and Wilkes said, "Jesus, Corin, you don't need to sneak into your own home! When are you going to let us know you're coming home so we can meet you at the field?" But he embraced his son warmly. Sooth wrapped them both in a hug.

"I don't like to be a bother." Before his parents could object that they could never see their son as a bother he continued, "I'd like to introduce Jonathon Nelson, "

"Just Jon is fine." he shook Wilkes' hand and then Sooth's. She was the first Dosadi he'd seen use that gesture rather than their usual, gripping each other's right shoulder with your left hand. It had been explained to him that this left each person's belly open and vulnerable to the other and showed trust. Quite the difference from the human gesture which tied up your weapon hand so the other person didn't have to worry about you drawing your knife – unless you were left-handed, of course.

Before Corin could continue the introductions, Sooth knelt down and said, "Oh she's adorable! Who are you, little one? Where did you come from?"

"I'm Rileeta! He rescued me!"

He quickly explained, "Can't really talk about it, Mother. But she doesn't seem to have any family that she knows about. It's only for tonight..."

"Nuh-uh!"

"...then she'll be staying with Veth's family. Their little girl's the same age."

"I'm gonna stay with YOU!" she stated firmly.

Sooth smiled at her son, "Good luck with that, Corin."

"Yeah, we'll work it out." he assured her. "Um, Nelson's a reporter for Argus and he's taken an unhealthy interest in our family for some reason."

Wilkes raised his eyebrow. "A reporter? What is there to report on us? We're not all that unusual when you get right down to it." He ran his hand through his thinning, grey hair.

Nelson chuckled. "You're being overly modest, Captain. I've studied your family rather extensively, including your and your wife's military records as well as that of your daughter. There's the business you ran with Ceena and Tir's father, the rumors of espionage...I've got a million questions! I would be honored if you would grant me an interview – I think my readers would find your family fascinating!"

Corin reminded Nelson, "I've let Nelson know that he'll be giving me every single bit of data that he has recorded since we met, and that I'll give _him_ what he can have, and that he won't be reporting anything that I do not specifically approve of. And the glasses are sensor traps, just so you know."

Nelson shivered. "Absolutely Commander! I have no interest in trying to report on anything you do not want me to. No interest at all." he assured him. "These..." he tapped the glasses, "...are standard for any Argus reporter. They're well known. I'm not trying to conceal anything here." he swallowed nervously.

Wilkes smiled tightly, "I think we can grant you an interview since Corin will be checking over your data. I have a feeling he was rather...emphatic...about that particular demand."

"Very. I would call it unforgettable."

"That would probably be wise." he agreed.

Sooth decided to calm things down a little bit, "We were just making supper, you'll all stay won't you? Some of our friends are going to be here any moment as well, it's always more fun with more!"

Corin looked uncomfortable for a moment then decided, "Sure! I don't think the replicator where I usually stay has worked in ages anyway."

Wilkes snorted, "Replicators. This is real food, son."

Nelson asked, "You don't use replicators? You grow your food?"

"And hunt it, Nelson. The Dosadi prefer real things to technological wizardry. We've got a replicator, we just don't usually use it. Trust me, real food tastes better."

"But...it's identical to a molecular level. It can't taste any different. And you actually kill living animals?"

Sooth laughed, "Yes, just like every other living animal does. It tastes different because you've put real effort into gathering it or hunting it and fixing it instead of just pushing a button. And believe me, supper tonight is going to taste _extra_ good to me since I was nearly _his_ supper."

"What?"

Wilkes said, "I'll be right back – gotta get it into the oven."

Sooth continued, "It's narak. A big nasty predator that we have. It's a real challenge to hunt them – we use spears – and he gave me a serious run for my money." She turned around and Nelson saw four fresh parallel red weals down her back.

He was dumbfounded. "You do this often? You prefer this to having food delivered to you safely and easily?"

"Of course!" she said. "We don't hunt narak all that often, but there are a lot of animals that we hunt as food. And where is the fun or challenge in stalking a wild computer console? Life is about challenge and constantly improving yourself. That's hard to do when you're surrounded by softness all your life."

"How can you have enough animal life to support all of you hunting all the time?"

She smiled at him, "Is this the interview?"

"Part of it!" he laughed, "I think I should have spent more time studying Dosad and the Dosadi!"

"We'll catch you up, don't worry. There's only 2 billion of us on the entire planet. The rest is wilderness. We don't breed very fast. In fact, with the Imperium's recent expansion, we're usually hard pressed to grow our colonies. Our cities are as much a part of the wild as they are cities. We don't _like_ artificial things.

"But that doesn't mean we don't use them, of course. It's just that given the choice, we'd rather sit on a chair we, or one of our friends, made, under a tree, smell the breeze, and eat something we made from food we grew or caught and _live_ rather than become part of our machines."

He said, "You're an entire planet of rednecks."

She looked puzzled. "What's a 'redneck'?"

"Sorry." he grinned, "It's an ancient stereotype, usually negative. It was meant to imply that the person was uncultured, ignorant, and afraid of progress. I was trying to make a joke and I think I blew it."

She laughed, "You need to use that one on my daughter Heather. She's always digging around in the history books of Earth looking for music and entertainments from half a millennium ago!"

"Would it be possible to meet her? I would love to ask her about her involvement in the Orias Incident."

Her face clouded. "That was a very unpleasant time. I would be cautious about broaching that topic. Especially around Wilkes."

"I meant no offense." he glanced at Corin, but the man was sitting there rubbing his knee and watching little Rileeta explore the roundhouse.

"No, no – none taken. You'll learn about us, Nelson. At least if you spend any time around us, and I have a feeling you will be. Relax, we're not the savages the Federation, especially the press, makes us out to be."

He grinned at her, "Touche', madame." He was going to say more, but several other Dosadi began rapping on the door and streaming inside, all of them bringing something to eat or drink, many of them with some sort of musical instrument.

He sat on the floor next to Corin and asked, "Do they entertain like this all the time?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right, you don't really know anything yet. This is a normal supper for Dosadi. It just varies where it's at. Tomorrow it'll be at some other house. They don't really 'own' the roundhouse, this is just one they've stayed at so long that everyone knows they can find them here. It gets to be a habit."

"But...there's all the, I assume that's booze, and instruments and...well isn't this a celebration of some sort?"

He looked sideways at the human. "Isn't every day that you're alive a celebration? If anything it's a celebration that the narak didn't get to eat Mother."

He laughed, "Well, what if you want a quiet dinner alone, or with your wife?"

"Then you stay home, and let people know you don't want company tonight. But you're always welcome to find someone who's got an extra place at their table."

"I have a hard time seeing you hosting a big, boisterous party like this."

"I'm a little different. I like to be by myself most of the time. I like the quiet."

"Yeah, I can see that." Nelson shivered again and thought to himself, yeah, the quiet of the grave.

It was hours later when the dinner started breaking up. Several people were finding soft places to curl up while others headed back to their own usual homes. Little Rileeta was already asleep, curled up in Corin's lap and Nelson was trying to absorb everything he had learned that night.

He had expected Corin to be the center of attention since he was freshly home from a mission. Instead, he kept to himself, didn't join in the music, and rarely contributed to the conversation while Nelson and Rileeta had been the main attraction.

He had learned that Rileeta's black fur was extremely rare and considered beautiful; He had expected her to be seen as ugly, like an albino on Earth. He also learned that the child sang quite well and that she definitely enjoyed having an audience. The contrast between her and her chosen protector couldn't be greater. He grinned and thought, "Beauty and the Beast." a 600 year-old fairy tale come to life.

He had also learned that Dosadi whiskey hit like a hammer and had virtually nothing in common with Synthehol. His head was buzzing and his balance was shot. He wondered how many of the people curling up in the Wilkes' home were drunker than he was.

"Corin?"

"What?"

"Can I stay here? I want to keep talking with your parents. It's not like I can escape the planet." he laughed. "Besides, I don't think I could outrun you or your friends."

"You're right. You couldn't." Corin leaned close to him and met his eyes. "Remember that, Nelson. Even if I die, my team will make sure you don't make public anything we haven't approved. We look out for each other, always."

"Jesus, you don't need to keep threatening me. I get it, all right? I'm not stupid."

Corin sat back, "I just want to be sure there's no mistakes, Nelson."

"You've made it very clear."

Sooth came in and rubbed her son's ears. "Corin, will you stay here tonight? We'd love to have you."

"No, Mother. I've still got work to do tonight. I'm only a few streets away it's not like I'm far."

"We miss you is all."

He smiled up at his mother. "The gods alone know why. I think I scared half the folks here tonight just by being here. I'm not really the singing type."

"Don't be silly. People aren't afraid of you, you're just...a little overwhelming sometimes. You wear that...what was it your grandmother called it? 'pirate costume' and half your head is covered with your honor tattoo and you just sit there and...well, Corin, you put a wall up. People respect you, and they respect what they see as your wish to be left alone. If you want to be part of the group, you have to open up too."

"Mother, do we always have to have this conversation? I _like _being alone. And I don't put up a wall. I'm just not quite what people choose to have as a friend. I'm not that sort of person and I'm fine with that."

"I'm your mother. I'm supposed to worry about you. I don't suppose you..."

Corin interrupted, "Mother, please. When would I have time to meet a girl, much less get to know one, and even if I did, what girl would be interested in an beat up, broken down old Soldier who's gone way more than he's home? You don't have to ask me that every time I come home. I _promise_ you that if I ever do you'll be the first to know!"

Nelson watched the exchange. Sooth frowned, clearly stung. "Corin, I'm sorry. I don't mean to push. I just want you to be happy. I know what it's like to be isolated and I..."

He set Rileeta down and stood up, "Mom, I'm fine. I promise."

Nelson thought to himself that even monsters had mothers, evidently, and they were no different than any other parent in the galaxy.

Corin glanced over at him. "He was hoping to sleep here so he could keep pestering you and Dad. Is that OK? I'm fine with taking him with me." Rileeta had stood up and had her arms wrapped around his leg and her head leaning on his thigh, her eyes half-closed.

"That's fine. If you can pry the little one off, we've got a spot that's just the right size for her."

But when he tried, she became very clingy and difficult. He shook his head, "I think she's still afraid to be alone. I guess she can stay with me tonight, I'll make sure to get her to Veth's early enough tomorrow night though. Poor thing." He picked her up and rubbed his head under his mother's chin. "I love you, Mom. Even if I'm not very good at showing it."

"We miss you, Corin. Even if you don't know it."

He grinned at her, and said to Rileeta, "All right, Ri, you get your wish. But you're going to be bored to tears." But she was already asleep in his arms.

He walked the short distance to the small roundhouse that he liked most. It was close to his parents and was rarely used – it was just the right size for one person. Occasionally a young couple looking for privacy would use it, but that was unusual. He hoped it was empty tonight and in fact it was.

Opening the door, he touched the wall plate and the light panels glowed faintly. It was dusty, as usual, and the few things he liked to keep were still here although they had been moved around some by other occupants. When he went to put Rileeta down, she clung to him and whined, so he decided not to fight that particular battle right now.

Instead, he sat down at a PADD tie-in and took his device out and connected it up and began working on some of the many reports he had to write. He finally got Rileeta to at least curl up in his lap instead of across his shoulder, which made it possible to type with both hands. When she flipped over and wrapped her arms around his waist, he looked down at her.

Sound asleep. No evidence of the phaser wound remained. He absentmindedly stroked the silky black fur on her head, softly rubbing one ear and she started purring in her sleep. She was so tiny. He thought to himself that it had been some time since he had touched another person in a non-violent way, outside of his team or parents. He wondered if she were scared of him at all. He had a lot of scars and a few patches of missing fur. He knew what he looked like.

He shook himself. Must have been daydreaming, he decided. That wouldn't do. Glancing at the chrono on his PADD he realized he'd been sitting there staring at the sleeping child and stroking her head for almost half an hour. Ah, to hell with it, it was late. He carefully stood up, lifting Rileeta as gently as he could, his knee twinging a bit. There was a nice little sleeping spot in the corner that he gently laid her in. It took him a while to find a blanket, but he tucked it around her and then went to his own favorite place to sleep.

He awoke with a start, drawing a knife from under his pillow as she curled up next to him, dragging her blanket along with her. What the hell? Definitely going to have to make sure he got her to Veth's tomorrow before she got all sleepy and difficult. He sighed resignedly and draped his arm over her and went back to sleep. Poor kit.

When he awoke the next morning, an hour or so before sunrise, it took him a moment to remember why there was a warm lump curled up next to him. He looked down at the little kit. She was rolled up in her blanket except for one foot sticking out. He smiled and disentangled himself from her. He made his way over to his clothes storage and took out some PT gear. A light shirt that could be soaked with water to help with cooling, a pair of shorts, and some running shoes.

She sat up while he was getting his shoes on, rubbing her eyes and looking at him sleepily. "What are you doing?"

"Good morning, Ri! The day's half-over already! Time to get some exercise in, get my leg back up to strength and keep the body in shape. I won't be gone long."

"I wanna come too!" She started trying to unwrap her blanket and stand up.

Corin watched bemusedly as she struggled. "You don't have any PT clothes, kit."

"Can we get some?"

"Um, I don't know, maybe later, I guess." He wondered where you went to get that sort of thing. Then decided she wouldn't be here long enough to worry about it.

"I'll do it in my regular clothes!" She started pulling on the same, tired clothes she had been wearing aboard the _Tarak_. The crew had hooked her up with a couple of sets, but she had managed to pretty well wear out, tear, or stain all of them but this last outfit.

"Kit, I doubt you can manage it. I run, I do exercises, I swim, then I walk back. That's a lot of work!"

"I can do it!"

"You sure, Ri? You're not just going to quit, are you?"

"No!" she looked fierce, "I never quit!"

"Yay! That's the spirit. All right, Ri, you can come – let's see how tough you are!" He decided she at least deserved a chance to try; It would be interesting to see how far she managed before she gave up. On a thought, he grabbed his empty ruck and slung it on his back. "All right, you ready to go?"

"Yah!" Fully awake now, she was like a tiny, black-furred warp drive.

"Let's make tracks!" He started out the door at an easy lope and quickly slowed his pace to a crawl so that her much shorter legs were able to keep up at something other than a sprint. He decided this was harder than running fast, but the kit had some guts. They made it two full kilometers before she started lagging behind, panting and hiccuping. He slowed again for her.

Another half kilometer and she was really struggling – but she hadn't quit. He stopped, put his hands on his knees and said, "Ri, can you help me out? I need to carry some weight while I run now so my leg can get stronger and I don't see any big rocks. Can I stick you in there and carry you?"

Gasping for breath and panting to try to cool off she could only nod. He smiled and took his ruck off and then realized that a three foot high kit wasn't going to fit in his ruck sack. He thought for a moment and then, inspired, pulled a slim knife out of the left strap and cut a hole in either side for her legs. "There! It'll be like when we ran into the desert, except it won't smell as bad."

She wrinkled her nose, but was too busy panting to speak. He put it back on and crouched down as low as he could go. "Climb on in, Ri! Thanks for helping me."

After a few minutes struggle, she managed to haul herself into the ruck and found that it wasn't as bad as she thought. It was like a seat – She hooked her legs around his waist and rested her hands on his shoulders. He grunted and stood up, adjusting the ruck so the weight sat on his hips instead of his shoulders. "How ya doing back there, Ri?"

"Fine. I didn't quit! I told you!"

"You're doing great, kit! Let's get moving! I've loafed long enough." He started off at something closer to his usual pace, heading towards the big lake. More than one person shot them a startled glance as he loped past, Ri's black-furred face peering over his shoulder. It was another 3 klicks to the lake, but he made fair time despite his leg. It was only when he got to the shore, the deep sand really sucking the energy out of his legs, that he began to struggle, and slowed to a walk. At his favorite stretch of beach to swim, he crouched back down and slipped the ruck off, unceremoniously dumping Ri into the sand with a laugh.

"HEY!" She started to work her way out of the modified pack while Corin stretched some of the kinks out of his muscles.

"Let's stretch out a bit before we swim, OK? Don't want to cramp up in that cold water."

She looked at the big lake and paused before saying, "OK." And began following Corin's movements.

"Here, we're trying to stretch the shoulders and upper chest out – put your fingers together like this and..." he noticed there was a woman sitting on the beach staring at them. "um..." This beach was usually deserted at this hour. He was slightly annoyed that someone was here today. "And like flip your hands over and stretch way up to the sky!"

Ri dutifully stretched out, trying to do everything that he did and doing a fair job of it. Corin was impressed, she really did have a lot of spirit. Veth was going to have his hands full with this one. He said, "That should about do it, Ri. Put your clothes on the ruck and we'll swim out a klick, then back and they'll wick most of the water off of us so we'll feel nice and cool on the walk home!"

"Um." She did as she was told and looked at the water again.

"Let's go!" he started to head into the gentle waves. After a moment, he looked back and noticed she wasn't sticking right next to him like she usually did. "Hey, Ri, what's wrong?"

"I don't know how. I only ever gone wading."

He laughed, "Well I'll be dam...Well, now's a perfect time to learn, Ri. C'mon, I'll teach you."

"I'm scared. There's stuff in the water. What if it bites me?"

He knelt down and looked her in the eyes. "Ri, you don't _ever_ need to be afraid when you're with me. I will never let anything bad happen to you as long as I'm with you, OK? We'll start slow – it's fun!"

The woman seemed amused by the situation, which only annoyed Corin more. He took the little girl's hand and led her slowly into the water. By the time it was up to her waist, her eyes were wide, her ears were flat back and she was doing her very best to crush his hands.

He stopped, "Just stand there for a little bit, Ri. See? Nothing bad is happening, is it? Just feel the water. It's just like wading, right?"

She nodded, but didn't relax her death-grip.

"Let's go another step, OK? I won't let anything bad happen, Ri. I'm right here."

She moved further out, gasping as the water came up almost to her chest. "Da...Corin!"

"It's OK. Just stand there, I've got you – Feel how the waves kind of lift you up? See? Your body wants to float, not sink. Just relax and let the waves move you. I'm not going to let go." She stood there for some time, feeling the waves gently push her back and forth, feeling the water lift her and then set her back onto her feet on the sandy bottom. "See?"

She nodded, her ears going up and forward as her fear slowly turned to curiosity.

"Ready for another step? It'll get right up to your chin! But nothing's going to happen, OK? I'm right here. I'm not going to let go."

She took a cautious step, feeling for the bottom, but still gasping and starting to struggle as the water came up over her chin.

"Relax, Ri. I'm here – It's not going to hurt you. Just relax and let it lift you just like it did a minute ago." He pushed up on her hands a little bit. She finally started bobbing slightly, her breathing slowing down some.

"There ya go. Just relax. See? Easy, isn't it?" He waited a moment. "When you're ready, I want you to just lean back and let your feet come up, OK? I won't let you sink. I promise, Ri. You're just going to lay on your back and float, nice and comfy. She shook her head emphatically.

"Only when you're ready, Ri. I know it's scary. But I know you can do it, too. I won't let you sink." It took almost a minute, but she finally took a deep breath and leaned backwards, squeaking as her feet came off the bottom, but Corin's hands moved under her back and held her high in the water. "There you go. Relax, breathe, kit. It's OK." As she slowly relaxed, he said, "Just arch your back now." and he began lowering her until she was actually floating, keeping just his fingertips touching her back.

"You're floating, Ri. It's all you." A movement on the beach caught his eye and he noticed the woman had gotten up and was leaving the beach. "Finally." he thought. He let the kit float for a little while longer, getting comfortable with it. "Want to go back to the beach now? I think that's a lot for one day!"

"Yes, please!" she said.

"Okay. Here's what you do – you just keep floating and kick your feet slowly up and down – I'm going to stay right with you. Yeah, just like that. See? You're swimming!" They were only a few meters out so it didn't take long for her to kick her way back. "Just stand up now, Ri."

She put her feet down, clearly expecting the bottom to be where it had been, and Corin laughed as she found that she had been floating in about 8" of water. She rolled onto her knees and splashed him. That, of course, turned into a water fight that lasted some time, leaving Corin completely soaked.

"Well, would you like to learn another way to exercise?"

"Sure. This is fun! Can I learn how to swim more tomorrow?"

He was about to agree when he remembered that she was going to go stay with Veth's family. "Maybe not tomorrow, but soon, Ri." They walked back onto the beach. "I'm going to show you something that not very many people on Dosad know at _all_. Raiders do this to exercise and to train our minds to be calm. It's something from Earth. Do you know what Earth is?"

"Where humans live?"

"Dam...dang, you're smart for a kit!" Corin was impressed. He hadn't expected a kit to be quite so...people-like. "This is called Tai Chi and it's _thousands_ of years old. It's all about moving smoothly and with complete control of all your muscles. Here, let me show you how to breathe."

"Breathe? I know how to do that." she snorted.

"Really? But do you ever pay any attention to how you breathe? Or what it feels like? Do you use your nose more, or your mouth?"

"I...well, I..." she stopped, puzzled, "I don't know. I just breathe."

"Well, let me show you one way to do it and pay attention – this is called qigong. Then we'll start learning taolu, which is the different ways we're going to move."

"Those sound weird."

"They are. But they're fun and if you can learn them, you'll know more about yourself and you'll feel more alive than anyone you're ever likely to meet."

"Cool!"

He grinned at her. "It really is. I learned how to do this back on Earth in a place called Beijing." But here, let's begin. And for the next half an hour, Corin taught the little girl some of the basics of Tai Chi, despite it's having been created for an entirely different species on a planet many trillions of kilometers away from the beach she was standing on, with an alien sun coming up over the city of T'Elesh.

They finally put their gear back on and started walking back towards the place Corin stayed. "You did really well, Ri. I'm impressed."

"Thank you." she smiled at the praise. "Can we eat now? I'm starving!"

He realized that the food he had at his place was field rations – they were easy to store, easy to eat, and served the purpose of fuel. Not quite suitable for a young kit. The replicator was broken so he'd have to go find someone who was up and who had some food they'd share, or go pick some up from a trader. "Um, I'll have to go and find some food, Ri, I'm not really used to having people stay with me."

"What do you eat?"

"Field rats, usually. They're easy."

"What are field rats?"

"Rations – dried food, it's not very good, but it'll keep you going."

"I'll eat that too!" she decided.

He laughed, "Well, you can try it, but you probably won't like it." He decided there wouldn't be much point to really getting a lot of chow, she'd be gone in a few hours anyway. "Veth and his mate have a lot more stuff that's good to eat! More like my parents do. You'll love it there."

She pouted. "I want to stay with you."

"You're being very sweet, Ri, but you'd be bored staying with me. I'm not really built to take care of a kit, even one as smart and as tough as you."

"I want to stay. Don't you like me?"

"Oh, Ri, you're a sweetheart, of course I like you. Everyone likes you. But I'm never home, and I'm old and scary and that's all there is to it. If you can talk this much, we're not walking fast enough! Step it up!" and Corin increased his pace until the little kit was almost trotting to keep up.

If anyone had accused him of running away, he would likely have taken them straight to the challenge ring.

When they did make it home, Corin broke out a field ration pack and split it up. "You sure you want to try this, Ri?"

"Yes!" She reached for some dried meat and began chewing at it furiously.

Corin smiled and thought that the kit really did have a lot of heart. Not what he expected at all. She seemed quite different from what he remembered of his team's kits. There were some sweet treats in the ration, designed for quick energy and he let her have those. "Well, what do you think?" he asked.

She chewed a little bit longer. "It's dry."

He laughed, "Yeah, I guess they are."

She looked at him hopefully. "Do you have any iceetreats?"

He remembered those from his own childhood. Come to think of it, they were one of his favorites too. "No, I don't, but that does sound really good. You know what, I'm going to go see if um.." he suddenly realized he had no idea who his neighbors were. He knew what they looked like, but didn't know their names. And he'd been coming back to this particular roundhouse for a lot of years. He was pretty sure they were the same people who stayed there the whole time. Embarrassed and angry with himself he said, "Hang on, Ri, I'll be right back."

She had caught the change in his scent and wondered why, but she only nodded, wondering if she had done something wrong.

Corin got up and walked to the nearest neighbor's home, knocking on the door frame. When the man slid the door aside, his surprise was obvious. "Good morning! I'm sorry to be a bother, um, I'm Corin, I live next door there."

"Yes, yes, we've seen you, of course. Got the impression you preferred privacy, didn't want to intrude. I'm Relan."

Corin could see his mate looking around an interior wall, shock plainly evident on her face. More embarrassed than ever, he said, "Well, thank you, that's very polite. I've got a young house-guest for the day and I'm afraid my replicator hasn't worked for some time. I...uh...I'm in the Fleet so I'm not home much. I was wondering, do you have any iceetreats?"

"I can replicate some for you, of course! Come in uh, Corin." He ushered him in, and introduced his mate, "This is Seetha. Our neighbor Corin has a young guest for a few days..."

"Just the day, actually."

"Of course. Be right back!" and he trotted off to the kitchen area. His mate struggled to maintain the conversation. They knew little about the man who lived next door sometimes. They knew he wasn't fully Dosadi – anyone who looked at him knew that – and that half his head was tattooed and that he was a Raider. That was impossible to disguise. The rumors that went around about the Raiders ranged from the heroic to the terrifying. Looking at the heavily muscled, badly scarred man standing in her great room, she tended to give the terrifying more credence.

"So, uh...your guest...who is it?"

"It's a little girl named Rileeta that I...well, I'm responsible for her right now. She'll be staying with one of my...friend's families after today, they've got a kit of their own who's six as well, so she'll fit in. I'm not really set up to have a kit around."

"Oh dear," She could only imagine how this Raider ended up responsible for someone else's kit, but she was pretty sure that the story was horrifying. "Do you have any toys for her?"

"Toys?" He didn't have toys. He had weapons, explosives, training equipment..."No, I don't really think so. I don't even have any clothes for her, I'm going to need to..."

"Oh no, our kit's just now seven, so we've got plenty. Let me get you some things for her."

"That's not really necessary, she's only here for the day..."

"It's no problem. It won't hurt in any case. Wait here..."

So Corin found himself standing alone in someone else's great room, wondering what the hell had just happened. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He looked around, noticing that they had pictures on the wall of family and a little male that must be their kit. There were some bits and pieces of art displayed, a small drum and flute, and the clutter that any family accumulates during life. It reminded him of his parents' home when he was a kit. He tried to think what he had on his own walls and drew a blank. There was a picture, of...something. Someone else had hung it there when they had stayed. He thought it was of the lake, maybe.

Relan came back in with a cluster of wrapped iceetreats, a sort of frozen yogurt-like treat in different flavors. "Here you go..." he glanced around, looking for his mate.

"She went to get some things to loan to Rileeta for the day." he explained. "I'm sure she doesn't need..." she came bustling back in with a folded set of clothes, a small puzzle, and a couple of childrens books.

"Here, this will help her to be a bit more comfy today and some things to keep her occupied, and these will be warm for her to sleep in."

"I'm sure Veth's family will appreciate that. And so do I!" he hastily added on. "I...Thank you, very much. I should probably get back before these melt."

Seetha said, "Of course. Feel free to come by any time! I'm sure she'd enjoy meeting our son."

"Yes, we will – next time she's staying with me, I'll make sure she does." He smiled and clumsily tried to juggle the stack of things in his arms and slide the door open. "Thank you again!" He finally made it out the door and headed back to his place cursing himself for not having met those people long ago. How idiotic did he look? How rude?

Seetha and Relan just looked at each other. "HE's got a kit staying with him?!" he said.

"She's probably curled into a ball in a closet. He gives me the shivers. I heard the Raiders just kill everyone they encounter. They don't really fight like Warriors at all." she shook her head.

"I don't think so. Did you see his face? I've never seen anyone with an honor tattoo like that. And those scars!"

When Corin went into the roundhouse he stayed at, he called out, "Ri, I've got some..." and then saw that she had gotten into his knives. There were a variety of them scattered over the floor and she was closely examining a razor sharp human tanto-style knife that was one of his favorites. "Careful kit! Put that down right now before you cut yourself!"

She looked up at him. "I'm careful. I know they're sharp. Oh! You got some!" She carefully set the knife on the floor and scampered over, helping herself to two of her favorites.

"Yeah, my neighbors are really nice, they gave you some things too."

She said, "Oh! What is it? Can I see?"

He laughed at her excitement, "Sure. Um, looks like some books and a puzzle and uh, some clothes you can work out in and something fuzzy to sleep in too." He took his own iceetreats and dug in, marveling at how good it tasted. The kit was happily exploring her new things while devouring her own treat.

Smiling, he decided to get to work on the reports he had left un-done last night. There was always more paperwork to do. He didn't know how long it had been, but he had gotten a couple items checked off his list when Ri crawled into his lap. He gave her a squeeze and kept working. At least with her, he didn't need to worry about her seeing any confidential information. Anything in his reports would be several years beyond her reading ability.

She sighed and flopped across his lap, head hanging off one side, legs and tail off the other. He patted her back and continued to work. It wasn't long before she flipped over the other way, sighing heavily.

"That's MY name!" she told him.

He realized that he had typed her name while he was describing the actions in Songte on Eletha. "Yah, it is." he used his finger to outline the angular Dosadi script, going from top to bottom on the letters of her name.

"Are you writing about me?"

"Sort of, kit. I have to tell my superiors what happened, so I'm writing down the whole story here."

"Oh."

He went back to typing.

It hadn't even been five minutes before she reached up and touched his ear. He flicked it away, but she did it again. He finally looked down at her. "Why are you doing that?"

"How come you look different than everyone else? Like your ears are really funny looking. And your fur is a different color."

"So's yours, Ri."

"Yeah, but my ears aren't. And your face is shaped funny too."

"Gee, thanks!"

She giggled. "I just meant it's different is all." She went back to exploring the shape of his ear. "So how come?"

He looked at his report and sighed. "Well, I'm pretty different, Ri. I'm not really Dosadi. Well not all the way."

"What?"

"You met my mom and dad last night, remember?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Well, Wilkes really _is_ my blood-father. I'm half-human and half-Dosadi. That's why my ears are so round, like his even though they're still more like mom's, and my eyes are blue like hers, and my fur's the same color as his hair used to be – that's the little bit of grey fur on top of his head."

She thought about that for a little bit. "That's weird."

He laughed, "Yeah, it kinda is." He waited a few moments and then started working again only to have her interrupt again.

"Why don't you have a mate?"

"No reason, I guess. Well, it's complicated."

"You always say that when you don't want to tell me something."

"No I don't! It really is hard to explain."

"Why?"

"It just is, kit."

"Try?"

He thought to himself that he had no idea how parents put up with this all twenty-hours a day. "Well, I guess because I work a lot. I'm a Soldier, so I'm not around people a lot, and I look pretty scary."

"I'm not scared of you."

He smiled at her, "Thanks, kit. But I know what I look like. I'm pretty banged up, I've got a lot of scars, I'm missing fur where the scars are, and I really don't have a lot of time for finding a mate."

"Soral says you're afraid."

Corin's eyes widened. "Oh, he does, does he? Afraid of what?"

"He said you're afraid to love someone because you don't think anyone really cares about you and that you're afraid to try."

"I'm going to have to have a chat with Soral."

"Don't be mad at him!"

He squeezed her, "I'm not really mad, Ri. But he's just saying what he thinks, that doesn't mean it's true."

"Are you afraid?"

He was going to just tell her no. It was easier. But when It came down to it, he wasn't totally sure himself. "I'm not really sure, Ri. I haven't thought about it a lot. Maybe a little, I don't like getting hurt, and the only people who really _do_ care about me are the team. I'm not all that loveable. I'm not even very nice."

She hugged him as best she could, trying to duplicate the gesture she had seen him use. "I think you're nice. You save people."

He squeezed her back. How do you explain to a child that your main job is killing people and that saving her was a mistake that was likely to get him in trouble for putting the team at risk? "Thanks, kit."

He reached his hands up to the console and saw her staring up at him from his lap. "What?"

"I'm bored."

He shook his head. He wasn't likely to get anything done until he dropped her off at Veth's this evening. Ah well, it's foolish to keep fighting a losing battle. A few hours more wouldn't make any difference to these reports anyway. "Told ya." he tickled her, getting a squeal and making her curl into a ball. "What do you want to do then?"

"Explore! This is really different than where we used to live!" Glancing out the window, he was surprised to see that it was already afternoon. She must have been playing quietly longer than he thought.

"Okay, explore it is. Do you remember where you used to live?"

"Not the name. But the buildings looked different and there were a lot of little lakes, not that really big one."

He guessed she was probably from the other side of Dosad. There was an area over there that was broken up into thousands of rivers and lakes and small mountains. "Well, let's just walk around for a little bit and see what T'Elesh is like, OK?"

"Yaaay!" She bounced off his lap and quickly changed into her new clothes.

When they headed out the door, he noticed that the weather was changing – dark grey clouds were beginning to cover the sky and the temperature was dropping. It was going to storm this evening. "Well, pick a direction!" He noticed more than a few people were either peeking out windows at him or subtly casting glances their direction as they were out and about. Was it _that_ odd that he'd be out walking with a kit? After a block, he decided that evidently, it was.


	7. Chapter 6

_**CHAPTER 6**_

"_...they plot, but Allah also plotteth; and Allah is the best of plotters."  
- Koran – al-Anfal 8:30 – Earth (Human)_

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

FEBRUARY, 2310

Legate Dukat drummed his fingers on the table top. It was a human nervous habit that he found useful as well. The documents in front of him supported the young sensor operator's belief that there _had_ been a ship next to the _Galor_ – there had been an unexplained transport either to or from the surface of Eletha at nearly the same moment the sensor sweep had detected something.

But what sort of ship? From which power? Were they beaming something or someone to, or from the planet? And what? Why? How did they manage to sneak even a cloaked ship in between all of the ships of his fleet – and then escape again. The Romulons were the most likely people to be using a cloak, but this would be a very long way from home for them and they had little love for the cat-people. Perhaps the Klingons? They also made use of cloaking devices on their war-birds. But sneaking about like this simply wasn't their style. They used cloaks for advantage in battle, not for spying. And although technically allied with the Dosadi they spent plenty of time fighting with them as well. The two powers seemed to enjoy brawling with each other like a pair of drunks.

He picked up the PADD with all it's charts, graphs, and analyses. There were plenty of stories about the Dosadi utilizing small, fast, heavily armed cloaked ships as pirate vessels, but not a lot of hard data. The Federation called them as 'Raider-class starships'. But all of the information he had in hand indicated that such a ship _should_ have been detected unless it were almost sitting on top of the _Galor_. Why would they go to all the trouble to sneak a ship in, transport something down to the surface and then leave? Perhaps they were dropping off scouts? But how would they get the information off again? That didn't quite fit the Federation assessment of them as primarily used for piracy.

Swiping his finger along the screen he checked Dosadi fleet dispositions again. The Imperial Fleet was badly over-stretched. There was simply no way that Imperium could bring any sort of force to bear in under six months; Much longer than the four months it would take for the Union to bring in the First and Twelfth Orders and an additional 50 ships to cement their hold on Eletha. With the reserve fleet safely hidden in the Torelli Nebula, any Dosadi response was going to be a disaster for them. By the time the battle was over, the Dosadi would be lucky to hold on to their existing territories without worrying about trying to retake Eletha again.

Well, he decided, the Dosadi weren't the only ones with specialized forces. The Obsidian Order had teams of specialists who could go down on an enemy planet, learn what was of interest to the Union, and be gone before they were detected. Such a team had already been dispatched and was awaiting his order. It was time to get a sense of what the cats were up to. Their military had its headquarters in a city called T'Elesh; for these troopers, that was more than enough information. He leaned forward and issued the order that would send ten of the most lethal sentients in the galaxy into action.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

FEBRUARY 2310

"That's the Imperial Fleet Headquarters, kit. That's where the team has to go to talk to our commanders and get our orders."

"I thought _you_ were in charge."

He laughed, "No, only of my team. I'm not a very high rank. I'm a lieutenant commander. There's a commander that's in charge of our group of three teams, and a captain who's in charge of our force of 12 teams, and an admiral who's in charge of all 24 teams."

"Oh!" she said, looking up at the big tower-like building. "Are they all like you are?"

He smiled, "Pretty much. But our team is the best."

"Do you have a name like ships do?"

"Nope! We're just Team Six."

"Is the _Tarak_ your ship?"

"Not _my_ ship, but it's the only one our team uses. When we're not aboard her, Team Eighteen is. We take turns, see? She's got two crews as well. And they take turns flying her."

"Wow." She looked up at the beaten up old Soldier. She reached up and grabbed his hand. "I want to be like you when I grow up."

He laughed again, "Oh, no you don't kit. Trust me on that one."

She decided to ignore him. They continued to explore through the sprawling city, the buildings in small clumps surrounded by forest. The sky continued to darken as they walked, and the wind picked up, the long corn husk-like leaves rustling and making the trees shimmer. Outside of the area where he usually stayed, there were no more stares or odd looks. To those they passed, he was just a middle-aged man out walking with his daughter.

About two hours after they had started, Rileeta, still holding his hand, said, "I'm getting tired. When are we going home?"

"Well kit, that's good timing. We're only about a block from Veth's place. They're really looking forward to you staying with them! They've got a little girl too and she's just your age."

Rileeta's shoulders slumped and she took her hand back. For once her 'hurt-look' was genuine. In a small voice she said, "But, I want to stay with you. I want to learn how to swim and more tiechee and..."

"Ri, you were bored to death in just a few hours. You'd end up hating me if you were forced to stay with me for very long. I get on people's nerves pretty quickly."

As they got closer to Veth's, she tried again, "I promise I won't get in the way or bother you or anything!"

"You never bothered me, Ri. I'm just doing what's best for you. You'll love Veth and his mate and they've got toys and books and clothes and things to do. I don't know anything about how to take care of someone your age."

She was going to say something else, but they were already turning into Veth's and the younger man was sliding open the roundhouse's door. "Hey Cap! Good afternoon, Ri!"

Corin waved and said, "Hey Veth." They clasped each other's shoulders and he continued, "We were just out exploring the town and ended up right near you, so I thought we'd stop by a little early."

"Sounds good. We've been really looking forward to having you here, Ri. I've told Feros and S'eth all about you and they can't wait to meet you."

Rileeta was pouting and feeling like she was being dumped.

Veth continued, "Come on inside, both of you. It's only about an hour until dinner – can you stay, Cap?"

At the mention of food, Rileeta perked up some. "I'm really hungry!"

He laughed, "Well what did you have for lunch?"

"We had field rats for breakfast!"

He shook his head and looked at his CO. "Cap, did you not get any food into this kit? She's not a Soldier, you gotta feed them, and not just dried rations."

"I, uh, guess I lost track of time." he followed his demolitions expert into his home. Another little kit was holding onto her mother's tail and peeking shyly at Ri as they came in.

Rileeta wanted to stay with Corin, but she also wanted a friend. She was a little nervous.

S'eth said "Hello."

"Hello." Rileeta answered back, just as shyly.

"Your fur is _really_ pretty."

"Thank you." she smiled. "I like your eyes. They're nice."

Corin was extremely uncomfortable. He had absolutely no idea what to do, so he was taking his cues from Veth who was just standing there, watching the two kits get acquainted. He kept feeling like there was something he should do or say or something!

"Do you like to read?"

Ri perked up. "I love to! Do you have books?"

"Ya! Do you wanna go see them? I've got a puzzle that's like a book you have to put together too!"

"Okay" Ri finally moved away from Corin, following S'eth into another room. He realized he had been tensed up and nearly holding his breath.

Veth smiled at him, "She'll be fine, Cap. S'eth's a great little kit, she'll help her settle in."

Corin had always thought that Veth's mate was one of the quietest people he'd ever met; she so rarely spoke. "Thank you both. I really don't know how to take care of a little one like that."

Feros looked at her mate's commanding officer; the man who had so often sent him into deadly danger, and as often made sure he came home again. Her nose told a story that mere sight would not. "Are you sure you want her to stay with us?"

What did she mean, was he sure? Of course he was sure. Hell, he'd forgotten to feed the poor thing. Troops he could take care of. Weapons he could take care of. Kits? He had no idea what to do. "Of course I'm sure, Feros. It's really for the best."

She didn't say anything, but her ears, whiskers, and eyes told Corin she didn't believe him.

LANDING FIELD, T'ELESH DOSAD

FEBRUARY, 2310

Gul Kalekt crouched low, facing the rear ramp of the little cargo lighter that was dropping down from the Orion freighter now in orbit around Dosad. Her cargo was legitimate, as was her passenger manifest. There were simply ten extra passengers, not that anyone would see them, of course. He checked his team, looking for any reflection or light peeking out from their ghillie suits. They were stacked in three lines, ready to move out quickly.

The interior lights went off. "Control, lighter three-three, I'm losing lift – gonna come down hard." said the pilot. Seconds later, the little shuttle slammed down almost in the forest on the edge of the clearing. The ramp dropped instantly and Kalekt and his team were into the forest and on their bellies in the undergrowth in only a few moments. The ramp came back up again, and the ten Cardassians began slowly moving more deeply into the woods. Their camouflage suits would mask them from anything but a specific sensor sweep. Naturally, it was raining, he thought. For his next mission, he was going to request a desert planet.

Moving slowly and cautiously, it took a lot of time and effort to make any real distance and it was fully dark by the time they had oriented in the city and determined where the Imperial Fleet Headquarters was. Fortunately, the Dosadi city was heavily forested, providing plenty of places to hide and conduct surveillance and mapping operations as they went. They had 30 days on this enemy planet, and then they would leave exactly as they arrived with no one the wiser.

His lead scout raised one hand and pointed forward and the entire team melted into the shadows and undergrowth. Kalekt tapped the side of his goggles and the night turned to day. Walking towards them was a heavily-built Dosadi male. Nothing to worry about.

And then the man stopped. His nose twitched and he squinted into the woods. Five different weapons were instantly trained on him, but Kalekt gave no order. They would wait. Bodies were always difficult to dispose of and they had a long time to go without being discovered. If they could get away without having to eliminate this civilian, they would. Their scent should be masked from a Dosadi nose. Why was this damn fool sniffing? Had those damn sensitive cat ears heard something? He would hold off firing as long as he could.

Corin sat back from Veth's table, "That is _so_ much better than field rats." he patted his very full belly. Ri and S'eth had been whispering together throughout the meal and the little kit ate enough for a full grown troop. She surely seemed settled in – and he was thrilled to see that it looked like she had made a friend. Listening to the rain outside he said, "Gonna be a fun walk home in this."

"So, why not stay, Cap? You're always welcome here, you know that."

He had stayed with them fairly often, but tonight that just wasn't a good idea. He needed to put some space between little Ri and himself so that she could adapt into her new family. "Nah, thank you though. I've still got a lot of work to do from our last trip." He stood up and stretched. "Ri, you doing OK?"

She looked at him smugly. "I'm fine, thank you." and she and S'eth giggled.

That was a little confusing he thought. "Well, good night then, everyone. I'll probably swing by tomorrow and see how everyone's doing and you and I can compare notes on our trip, Veth."

"Sounds good Cap. Enjoy the walk!"

"Rain or shine, it's always fine!" he laughed and let himself out. Standing in the dark, the rain coming down and the wind blowing his fur, he looked up at the sky. He enjoyed storms. The energy that was around you was invigorating. But tonight he really wanted to stay in that warm, dry room and share the company of that family. He was a little sad that she hadn't at least given him a hug good bye. Bah. He was becoming a sentimental old fool. He strode off into the wind and the rain.

While he walked, his mind kept running over the events of the past few days. The kit really had done well and he hoped she fit in well and quickly with Veth's family. She learned fast, too. If he ever _did_ get around to finding a mate and having a kit – gods forbid – he hoped they turned out like her. Well, maybe a little less stubborn. No one should be that pig-headed.

He stopped suddenly. There was a scent of...something. Almost like...lubricant? He sniffed the breeze again. The rain was making it hard to figure out what it was and where it was coming from and the wind kept snatching the scent away. There shouldn't be any lube out here. Did someone spill something? He looked into the dark, wishing his eyes and nose were as sensitive as a full Dosadi's. Not quite lube...it was...reptilian too?

He took a half step towards the low brush and trees that bordered this part of the path and sniffed again. Nothing. Just the occasional faint hint of something he could almost put his finger on. Maybe someone was oiling up snakes. He laughed, decided he had been in the field a little too long after all. Ri would think he was paranoid. He shook himself and headed for home.

Kalekt heaved a large mental sigh as the Dosadi civilian finally laughed and walked on down the path. He glanced across the nearly invisible mounds that were his team; They had to be as relieved as he was. He always wondered, after these little encounters, if the man ever suspected how close he was to death right then. He waited a few more minutes to be sure neither that man nor anyone else would come down that path again and then signaled for his team to move out.

Corin stepped into the house, and shook as much rain out of his fur as he could. The house was dark and had chilled with the night air. He touched the wall plate and the panels lit dimly. Scattered across the floor were the puzzle, several books, and a set of Ri's clothes that she hadn't put away. Not that she really had a place to put them away, he decided. After staring at them for longer than he should have, he decided he'd have to make sure he returned those tomorrow to...Seetha and Relan, that was their names. It was nice of them to loan them to her.

He sat down and turned the console on, ready to pick up where he had left off. He put his hands on the device and just stared at it. Her name was still glowing at the top right corner of the page. He hadn't even finished another page before she started fiddling with his ears. He smiled at that. Nosy little fur ball. He turned around and looked down at what she had been doing.

The puzzle had been completed – evidently that hadn't given her much trouble at all. It was really pretty to look at too. Whoever had designed it had made it a work of art as well as a child's toy. He stood up and folded the clothes, stacking them on a low table. He wondered if she had finished the books. He picked one up. It was a simple story about a kit going out to play with friends and meeting all sorts of different people. It was cute. He put that on the table too.

By the time he had worked through the few books he had borrowed, he was thoroughly uninterested in working on that report. He wondered what she had done with the iceetreat wrappers. Probably stuck on something. A brief search finally convinced him that she had actually put them in the recycle chute. It would be converted into matter for the replicator...assuming he ever got that fixed. He probably should.

He sighed and sat down at his work again. Discipline was going right out the window, he decided. Here he was with work to do and he was just wasting time. There was a song they had been singing at his folks' house the other night, it was a good tune. Maybe if he had some background noise he could focus. He spent a few minutes tinkering around looking for it and finally found the song. It started playing and instead of concentrating on his work, he actually listened to the lyrics.

Snorting, he cut it off. Some sappy sad song. Not at all what he needed to get some work done. Silence would be better. He finally got angry with himself and got busy.

It was almost two hours later when he finally finished the report. There were more to write, of course, but he would get those done tomorrow. A good, hard run, a long swim, and he'd be nicely focused. He stood up and stretched, putting his hands on his back. Definitely need more PT, he thought. Body gets stiff too fast these days. Without even a glance at the stack of things Ri had borrowed, he went to get ready to sleep.

Laying down in his favorite spot he stretched out and listened to the wind and the rain outside with his hands behind his head. As he pulled his arms down, his left came to rest on rumpled blanket. He had evidently forgotten to put that away. The little kit's scent was still all over it; he'd have to make sure to wash that tomorrow. He pushed it away and tried to relax.

Finally, the storm worked it's magic and he was sound asleep.

He opened his eyes only enough to see what was happening. It was still raining hard and the wind was blowing even more. The door slid further open; whoever was sneaking in was trying hard to be quiet and failing miserably he thought. He slid his hand under the sleeping pad and pulled out the phaser concealed there. He brought the sights to bear and watched a small, dark form slip inside and try to slide the door quietly closed.

Shaking his head, he quietly tucked the phaser back under the pad and pretended to be sound asleep. Rileeta walked as quietly as she could, but the water dripping off of her might as well have been a drum to Corin's ears, and her shoes were squelching. She stopped part way across the floor and took her soaking wet things off and tried again. Now, he was listening to the wet pad of bare feet and he could smell wet fur. He was struggling not to laugh.

Finally she crawled in between his chest and his right arm; She was shivering and soaking wet and cold. He should get up right now and take her back to Veth's. They'd be frantic when they found out she had snuck out in the middle of the night. How the hell had she made it from there to here? It was over two klicks in the dark and there was no way she remembered the wandering path they had followed to Veth's yesterday.

Well, he shouldn't take her back until she'd had a chance to warm up anyway. At least she had a dry set of clothes here still. And somewhere was that warm nice fleecy thing Seetha had given her to sleep in except, he remembered he was pretending to be asleep. The poor thing was still shivering, and his fur and the bedding was soaked now. Why had she come all this way in the freezing rain? The kit was clearly pig-headed, and nuts besides.

He waited while Ri fell asleep. When he was sure she was really asleep, although she was still shivering, he pulled her blanket away from the wall and tucked it up and over her. It would be better if he could have gotten a towel and dried her fur off, but that would spoil it. She thought she was being stealthy and had managed to pull her grand plan off and for some reason he really didn't want to ruin that success for her. She snuggled into him and made a quiet little squeak and started purring.

He was a long time getting to sleep after that, watching her sleep instead.

When he woke up the next morning, she was still curled into a ball next to him. He shook her shoulders and she opened her eyes and yawned, her fangs showing white against the pink of her mouth and the black of her fur. "Hey there, Ri. Where'd you come from?"

She looked down and didn't say anything.

"Ri, you're supposed to stay with Veth and his family. Didn't you like them? They sure seemed to like you."

"They're really nice." she admitted.

"What about S'eth? I thought you guys were friends."

She looked up and smiled. "She's my best friend. She's really smart and awesome."

"So...why are you here again?"

She looked down again, "I want to stay with you."

He stood up and went to get his PT clothes on. "Ri, come on, we talked about that."

She thought to herself "_you_ talked about that", but he was continuing.

"I don't know anything about kits, or how to take care of you or anything. You'll be lots better off and have more fun at Veth's. And I'm sure S'eth wants you to stay there!"

She got up and put on the clothes she had worked out in the day before.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I want to run again and swim and learn more tiechee."

He laughed, "You like PT? All right then!" That certainly deserved a reward. "But it's two words, kit – Tai Chi"

She tried again, "Tai Chi."

"Yup! You got it!" He picked up his ruck, looked at the holes he had cut in the bottom corners and thought that it wasn't much good for anything _other_ than carrying a kit on his back any more. To hell with it, it was a good workout.

Like the day before, she refused to quit, and he ran her until he thought she was going to throw up, and then let her catch her breath while he got ready to carry her. And just like the day before when they hit the beach, he dumped her into the soft sand. Also, just like the day before, the same woman was sitting there, watching the sun rise.

She was about his age, he decided, and her fur was elegantly marked, though she had no warrior pendant nor an honor tattoo. Her eyes were typical Dosadi gold and she seemed amused by their workout. Well, he decided nobody asked you, lady. He again coaxed Ri into deeper water, much more easily this time and got her to float.

"Perfect! Now, you know how to move around on your back, let's try on your front, OK?"

"I'm scared to!"

"Don't be. I won't let anything happen to you, OK? Here's what I want you to do. You're just going to roll over and start paddling your hands and feet. I'm going to hold you up so you won't sink, OK? Nothing's going to happen."

It took her almost a minute to decide to give it a try, but she finally flipped over and immediately began to sink, but Corin held her up with her face out of the water. "You can float on your face too, Ri, but you have to hold your breath while your face is in the water. But right now, just paddle. That keeps your face out of the water."

She began thrashing at the water and he eventually managed to get her paddling properly. "I'm going to let you hold yourself up, Ri...But I'm still right here. You're fine." Her ears went back, but he went slowly so that she could feel her hands and feet pushing herself up out of the water. "There you go!" He was holding less and less of her weight as she got a feel for it and in a surprisingly short time, she was paddling around him on her own.

"You're swimming!"

The expression on her face was one of triumph while she swam in slow circles around him. "When you get tired, you can roll onto your back too, but today, just put your feet down and you'll be standing up, OK?"

Sputtering a little bit she said, "OK" and a minute or two later headed towards the shore and put her feet down, bobbing under the water briefly and coming up spitting.

He laughed, "Hold your breath before you do that next time."

But she wasn't mad or scared, the smile of pride lighting her face up like a spotlight. "I DID IT!"

He gave her a hug, "You sure did, Ri. You're a fast learner. Ready for some taolu?"

"YES!" She splashed quickly onto the beach. Smiling, he followed the little girl onto the sand and began working her through the first, basic forms. He was focused on making sure her postures were correct and hadn't been paying much attention to anything else when the woman asked,

"Isn't it a little early to teach her how to kill people?"

Startled and angry at himself for a lack of situational awareness he snapped, "What?" She had walked quite close to them.

"That's what that is, isn't it? Some military thing you do to kill people?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's an exercise that tones the mind and body. We use it to develop inner peace and a balance between the physical and the mental."

"It looks very strange. You _are_ a Soldier, aren't you?"

He was still irritated. Who was this nosy woman? "Yes. And who are you?"

"My name is Yun."

That threw him a little bit. "Yun? I don't think I've ever heard anyone named like that before."

She smiled, "I just moved here from C'orelan. It's literally on the other side of the planet."

"Oh! I've not met too many people from that region, um, I don't mean to be rude, but it's rather well known for being fairly isolated from the rest of Dosad."

"That's one reason I wanted to go somewhere totally different. Can I know your names, or is it a military secret?" she smiled again. He thought she had a very nice smile. Her whiskers arched up, her ears came well forward and her eyes lit up. But she clearly didn't think too much of the Dosadi military. Who ever heard of a pacifist Dosadi?

"I'm Corin and this is Rileeta."

"HI!" Rileeta chirped with a big smile.

Yun crouched down, "You're adorable! I've never seen anyone with black fur before. Is this your father?"

Corin swallowed backwards and coughed to clear his throat.

She piped up, "No. I want him to be but he doesn't want me."

"He doesn't? It sure looks like he does to me!" she looked up at him.

Still trying to clear his windpipe he said, "No, no it's not that, I'm a loner, I'm gone too often and I've got no idea how to take care of a kit."

She stood up and smiled at him. "For a loner with no idea how to take care of a kit, you look like you're doing a pretty good job to me." She studied the tattoo on his face while he tried to think of a reply. "I'm sorry to have interrupted you. Try not to corrupt her _too_ early. The galaxy doesn't need any more killers, I think. If people got to know each other better instead of fighting all the time, we'd all be better off."

He honestly had no idea what to say to this woman. Her world was totally different from the one he had inhabited for the last twenty years and more. She turned around, her tail brushing across his calf and she looked over her shoulder with a smile, "Bye!"

Corin stood there dumbfounded for several seconds as she walked off. What the _hell?!_

Ri looked up at him and whispered, "She likes you."

He snorted, "No, Ri, she most assuredly does _not_ like me. She's a little crazy – I've heard of people like her, people who think that everyone can just get along and that Soldiers just cause problems. She's probably never been in danger, ever, because Soldiers keep her safe. But she hates us because we have to do mean things to do so."

Ri tried to understand that, but only got a little bit of it. "She does so." she stated with finality.

He shook his head, "We're losing focus here, Ri. Let's finish up our forms so we can get home. And I'm sorry, I still don't have anything but field rats."

She took up her stance again, "I don't mind."

Heading home, he kept the pace up to forestall any further conversation on topics he was far from comfortable with. Unfortunately for him, when they arrived at his house, Relan was also just coming back from some errand. "Good morning, Corin! I see the little one is still here." and he smiled.

Corin answered, "She seems to have snuck back during the night from where she's staying." but he reached down and rested his hand on her shoulder, "Must be crazy." he teased her.

She ducked away from his hand and stuck her tongue out at him.

Relan laughed, "Well, you never know, I suppose. Um, I hope I'm not intruding, but my close friend Tarana fixes all sorts of gadgets and I asked her if she'd stop by and look at your replicator today. You said it was broken, right?"

Surprised, Corin said, "Uh, yeah. It hasn't worked in a while. I keep meaning to fix it, but I never really seem to get around to it." Someone else was coming up behind them and he looked over his shoulder. It was another neighbor, and another one he had _no _idea of their name. What the hell was happening? He'd been here for years and no one ever bothered him on his morning workouts. Didn't civilians sleep in?

"Who's this little one? I've never seen anyone with fur that color! She's so pretty!" the woman said as she walked up.

"I'm Rileeta!" she volunteered with a smile.

Hesitatingly, she asked Corin, "I didn't realize you had a kit...um...sir?"

"I'm Corin, she's not really mine, I'm just sort of responsible for her today, she's staying with a friend's family but she seems to like PT in the mornings."

Rileeta reached up and grabbed his hand, being her most adorable.

"Well, I hope you're not planning on just making her run all day!" she laughed.

He smiled, "No, She's got some books inside..."

"I finished all of them." She said.

"You did?" Damn, the kid was a fast reader for such a little one. "I'll have to get some more for you then, just to last you until we get you back over to Veth's." He was hoping that would be only a few hours.

The woman brightened up, "Wait right here! Our kit outgrew all of her things from that age and we haven't given them away yet. Just in case..." and bustled off.

"Um, that's really not..." but she was long gone.

Relan offered, "Her name's Teesa."

He blushed. "Thanks, I haven't really been as much of a neighbor as I should have been, I guess. I'm away a lot." he finished lamely.

"You're a Raider, aren't you? I've seen you in that uniform anyway."

They didn't really try to hide it – folks had commented that for a secretive group they went out of their way to advertise themselves. But while they made it obvious what they were, they kept the details of exactly what they did very secret.

"Yes. So you can see why I'm not really set up to take care of a kit."

Nervous, but curious as well he said, "Well, no one is if they try to do it by themselves you know. It's a team effort to make a person."

"I'm kind of a loner, It's part of my job. And the risk is too high to have a mate, why set someone up for that sort of heartache?" He was getting irritated. Had this man been talking to his mother?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry!" Relan explained quickly. He was really hoping that Raiders were more honorable than some of the stories made them out to be. When he had been talking with his friends about their strange encounter yesterday, he had heard that they killed casually and didn't really fight with honor. That they were essentially bullies who had been sent out into the stars to eliminate anyone the Emperor or the Korat found to be a nuisance. He did _not_ want to be seen as a nuisance.

Corin caught the sudden scent of fear from his neighbor and hastened to make amends. "No, not at all! I'm sorry if I looked angry, it's just a bit of a sore point with me. I apologize, I took no offense."

There was nothing wrong with Rileeta's nose either. She wrapped her arms around Corin's leg and said, "He saves people. He's teaching me how to swim and Tai Chi and I'm going to be just like him."

Glad of the change of subject, Relan said, "Wow! That's a lot! Uh...what's Tai Chi?"

Corin put his hand on her back, "She learns really fast. It's an exercise practice I learned on Earth. It's kind of a Raider thing."

"Sounds interesting." in truth, he had no interest in pursuing anything relating to Corin's military habits. "So..." and he stopped with relief, seeing his friend coming down the path. "Ah, here's Tarana! I hope that's OK? I don't mean to intrude, I just thought it would be the friendly thing to do."

"Not intruding at all. I appreciate it! And I'm sure Ri will as well. Maybe she won't have to eat field rats today!"

"I don't mind! They're really chewy though."

Fifteen minutes later found the group of them inside Corin's roundhouse while Tarana was taking the replicator apart. Relan was looking around curiously, looking for some sign of individuality in this space and finding none. "It must be hard to be away so often and for so long."

"It can get tiring sometimes, but I love what I do. In the teams, you really feel like you make a difference."

He looked at the scars all over Corin, especially the fresh red lines and bare skin down his leg. "It looks like you get hurt a lot."

Corin shrugged. "Cost of doing business is all."

There was a laugh from the replicator panel. "Um, it really _has _been a while since you used this, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why?"

She took out a stack of field rat cartons and wrappers from the recycle chute, some of which were dated years earlier. She kept pulling more of them out of the chute's compression feed. "It doesn't do a lot of good to keep stuffing things into the matter feed if it's not using them..."

"I really meant to get it fixed, I've just been busy is all."

"Well, the good news is it's an easy fix."

"What's the bad news?"

"You're going to hate me." She smiled and winked at him.

Relan was astonished at his friend's courage. What would possess you to tease a psychopath?

"I am? Why?"

She finished emptying the chute and fiddled with something. The panel lit up and gurgled briefly. "The breaker just needed to be reset." And she started closing the machine up.

"Oh, what the f..." he caught himself.

She laughed at the older man, "You're kinda cute when you're mad at yourself. I'll have to tell my mate to watch out or I'll trade him in on an older model." and she winked again. Ri giggled at Corin's expression and covered her mouth with her hand.

He was saved any further embarrassment when Teesa poked her head inside, "Can I come in? I've got some things for the little one..."

Corin was completely flustered. Why were all these people taking such a sudden interest in his life? "Sure, but it's not really necessary."

"Oh, it's fine." she said, looking around curiously. "I've got some clothes for her, and some books and some games and things."

What she had was a large box, stuffed full of 'things'. Where the hell was he going to put all of that crap? She was only going to be here for another couple of hours! He hoped she'd just put it down and leave but instead, she started going through the entire contents of the box with Ri who was making a series of delighted noises.

Tarana said, "Mind if I test it out? I'd bet a little breakfast snack would taste good to everyone!"

"I've got some wor..." but she was already punching buttons on the panel and then handing food out to the knot of people cluttering up his living space. He made an exaggerated sigh and took the plate she was handing him along with another one of those brilliant smiles.

Like Corin, Nelson was distinctly uncomfortable. You never knew where the threads of a story would take you, but the twists and turns of this one were getting ridiculous. No one in their right mind wanted to be 'interviewed' by any intelligence service and the Korat had a fairly unsavory reputation; He had seen entirely too much of Dosadi military operations and technology recently. Did Corin think that he had sent something to Argus? Did the Korat? Right now, Argus expected him to be on Eletha; he may have been written off already after disappearing during the Cardassian invasion.

Wilkes glanced at him, "Relax, Nelson. You've watched too many spy stories. If they wanted to kill you they'd just kill you. They don't make a big production out of it. Why waste the time and effort?"

"Easy for you to say. You're on their side!"

"And who's side are _you_ on, Nelson?" he asked amicably.

"No one's! I'm neutral! I'm just a reporter."

Wilkes snorted. "No one's on nobody's side, Nelson. Everyone has an agenda and a point of view. I've seen the media push one story line over another and I've been on the wrong side of that push before. It's not a lot of fun."

"I wasn't even a reporter when the Orias Incident was going on. Hell, I was barely in primary school! I had nothing to do with any of that."

"You've obviously studied it, so you know what I mean." He would have liked to continue the conversation, but the current chief of the Korat, Paral, came in and sat down at his desk again.

"Sorry for the interruption. Business must go on." he said. He was young to hold the position he was in and considered quite good looking. "Mr. Nelson." he studied the younger human. "You've been some unfortunate places."

"Unfortunate?" That didn't sound good at all.

"Yes. We've analyzed the data you've recorded with these, he held up Nelson's sensor glasses, "and you really have captured an awful lot of very sensitive and restricted data. Much of it relating to our tactics, operations, and classified technology. More than enough to qualify you as a spy."

"It wasn't my intent to be any of those places, sir, I got caught up in the events and had no choice where I was taken or what I saw. I assure you, I'm no spy! I'm just a reporter. My bureau at Argus will confirm..."

"Yes, we've already checked with them and with a few other sources in both Hydran and Federation space. Everyone happily agrees that you are indeed a reporter. Which doesn't preclude you're being a spy. Why didn't you simply turn the glasses off?"

"I always leave them running. It's an old habit. Besides, at least this way you know exactly what I saw and you don't have to take my word as to what I did, or didn't see. I did _not _try to obtain any information that I wasn't supposed to!"

"And yet, you have all of this sensitive information. Habits can get a man killed, you know. They're dangerous."

"Argus will not sit quietly by while you murder me."

Paral laughed. "We don't work that way, Mr. Nelson. But were we to try and convict you, I assure you that's exactly what they would do. In fact, they have disavowed assigning you to any specific story. Apparently, you are on your own here."

He started to protest again and Paral said, "Mr. Nelson, let me put you at your ease. I did not bring you here to terrify you or to simply confiscate your data. I came here to offer you a story. The chance of a lifetime."

His jaw sagged open. "A story?"

"Yes. It ties in nicely with your research on Captain Wilkes' family in fact."

"What's the story?" He was very interested, but also sensed a trap.

"It's the story you're already a part of. The battle for Eletha."

"You _want_ me to report on that? You guys got your asses kicked."

"The fight's not over, Mr. Nelson. You've done war reporting before. We've studied the work you've done and it presents a fair and balanced picture of combat operations. We would like you to do that same thing for the next phase of this fight."

"Why?"

"The press will report on the events there no matter what we do. Especially the Federation press, as unfettered as they are. We would like to get _our_ story out before anyone else does."

"I'm neutral. I won't lie for you, or for anyone." he said automatically.

Paral smiled. "That's why you're being given this chance, Mr. Nelson. If you were partisan, we wouldn't be able to use you. But you have a reputation for being scrupulously neutral. Your actions on Eletha support that. You refused to provide any real assistance to our wounded Raiders, despite a very real risk to your position there. Except under duress, of course."

"I'm sorry about that, but were I to..."

"Mr. Nelson, I'm telling you that is being seen to your advantage."

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry, I'm a little nervous."

"That's wise, Mr. Nelson. In any case. We are still going to filter and restrict what data you can send. With one exception. There will be a battle to retake Eletha. You will be attached to a unit that will be fighting there. We are going to allow you a live sub-space feed to Argus from the moment the battle begins to the moment the battle ends, under the control of the commander of that unit. You will do your usual combat reporting and the people of the galaxy will see the truth for themselves. Especially the Federation."

"A live feed? Unedited? You'd seriously allow that?"

"The circumstances are unusual. We need the Federation to see what has happened on Eletha and that our actions are just. We will also allow you to edit together the footage you shot while you were there during the Cardassian attack and we will make available to you information from the Raider Team you were with. That will be broadcast just before the battle begins."

"What's the catch?"

Paral leaned back. "There is no catch, Mr. Nelson. You are free to refuse. If you do, we will simply confiscate all your data and return you to Argus with nothing. Captain Wilkes has assured me that his son has made it very plain what will happen to you should you decide to share information about this matter that we do not approve of. "

Nelson said, "VERY plain." and shuddered.

Paral smiled again, "Or, you can accept the risk for what will likely be the greatest combat reporting in the past several centuries as well as adding to your original story on Captain Wilkes' family. The risk is actually far greater to you in accepting, than in refusing."

He thought about it for almost ten seconds. "I accept. What unit will I embed with? One of your ships?"

Paral's smile became almost predatory. "Tell me, Mr. Nelson, how do you feel about space diving?"


	8. Chapter 7

_**CHAPTER 7**_

"_Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal__"  
- Irish tombstone – Earth (Human)_

T'ELESH, DOSAD

FEBRUARY, 2310

The same afternoon Corin's replicator had been repaired, he finally managed to drag little Rileeta back to Veth's home. He started out with an apology, "I'm really sorry if you were worried, it's been something of a hectic day. Did you get my message that she was safe?"

Veth said, "Yeah, Cap, but S'eth told us where she went this morning." The little kit hung her head.

"So _that's_ how she knew how to get to my place from yours." Corin laughed.

"I think they've got you outnumbered, Cap."

He shook his head, "We talked about it some more. She _knows_ she's better off here, Veth. It won't happen again."

Ri said, "But that nice lady brought over all those things and your replicator's fixed and..."

"Ri, you've seen how I live, I barely pay attention to my own needs. I've got a nasty temper, my neighbors are scared of me..."

"Not the pretty one who fixed the replicator!"

Veth said, "What's this?"

"Veth, don't start. She's got a mate, it's not like that."

"And there was that lady at the beach!"

"Ri, shush."

Veth laughed, "Cap, you turning into a ladies man?"

"Don't make me kill you, Veth." Ri was surprised at the comment, but everything she could see and smell said that it was a joke, and it looked like Veth was taking it that way.

"You couldn't if you tried, Cap. You're getting old, after all." But he was smiling. "Hey Cap, can we go talk a minute?" The two left S'eth and Ri together to share the story of Ri's adventure. When they had stepped outside, he continued, "Cap, you sure this is really the way to go?"

"What do you mean? Was she causing problems?"

He shook his head, "No, she's really good. Especially for someone her age. Hell, I'm hoping she's a good influence on S'eth! They really seem to be close friends already. Feros adores her and she seems to really like us."

"So, what's the hang up? Looks like a perfect fit to me."

"The hang up is _you_ Cap."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't just assign a kit to a family like she's a troop you're moving to a new unit. She has to want to be there and they have to want her there. If you just dump her, it's going to really mess her up, make her feel unwanted, and unloved and isolated. That kit thinks you are just shy of a god. She told S'eth and Feros both how you saved her and pretty much every single thing you've ever said or done.

"She is sure that she wants to grow up to be just like you in every way. My kit sees _me_ that way. Ri likes me, she likes all of us. She _loves_ you, Cap."

"Yeah, well, it's not really mutual. Veth, you know me, can you honestly say you can see me raising a kit? I have no idea what to do. Hell, I forgot to feed her! I don't know a damn thing about raising a kit and I'm not interested in learning."

Veth studied his CO. "Not so sure about that being mutual or not, Cap. And it's not that hard to raise one, at least if you're willing to take a little help now and again."

"I don't need any help, Veth, and I don't need a kit. What I need is to get back to my place and get back to work without all the distractions." He raised his hand to forestall further objections. "Don't make me into something I'm not."

"Everyone needs to change sometimes, Cap. If you stop changing, you've died."

"You make a lousy philosopher, Veth. Stick to blowing things up. Listen, I'm gonna head back before this storm rolls in." He looked up at the black clouds filling the sky. "Gotta love winter weather. Gonna be cold and nasty tonight."

Finally! He thought to himself that evening as he worked. There had been entirely too much socializing the past couple of days. But now, it was peaceful and quiet and comfortable. He knocked out the remainder of his backlogged work and decided it was time for some chow.

He stood up and walked over to the now-working replicator. He glared at it for a moment and got out another set of field rats. Stupid gadget anyway. He sat down where he could look out the window at the storm and chewed the dried meat thoughtfully. Maybe Veth was right about that whole change thing. He'd been in field longer than any other Raider. Maybe it was time to take that promotion. He'd be in charge of three teams and have a lot of input into operations and training.

Looking down at his leg he remembered that fight with the young Cardassian who had almost killed him. He had been so damn young. Things weren't healing anywhere near as fast as they used to, and he couldn't recover from extended runs or field ops like he used to either. And it started hurting a lot more, a lot faster. He rubbed along the side of his knee. Doc had said that it would heal up fine, but he was starting to wonder about that. It still hurt all the time and wounds never used to do that.

Could he really leave his team? Well, Strike was talking about retiring. And Veth was getting up there too, at least as far as any normal scale went. Then he could find a mate, have some kits, settle down, and Mom and Dad would be happy. He laughed at the image of himself in some scene of domesticated bliss. He simply didn't fit in that sort of tableau, unless it was a surrealist painting. Like a narak in a nursery.

He stood up, stretched and yawned. There was a cold breeze coming in the open window, so he slid it closed and began to get ready to sleep. At least today he had remembered to put away all of Ri's things. He guessed it made sense to at least keep them here so that she could come and visit occasionally. She really was a good little kit.

He laid down and was almost instantly asleep, listening to the wind and the rain lash the roundhouse's deep windows.

Gul Kalekt was _not _enjoying this particular mission. Dosadi weather stank and the civilians moved about everywhere at all hours of the day and night. At least cover was easily available and the Dosadi lack of exterior artificial lighting made that even easier. But any motion required extreme care – Dosadi noses, eyes, and ears were very sensitive. But they had finally managed to get a remote sensor aimed at the Dosadi Imperial Fleet HQ building and well concealed. They were now creeping back towards the hide they had prepared. They would set sensors on other buildings in the coming days, and then collect them in turn before they headed home. Not many people in the entire galaxy knew that the Cardassians could penetrate building sensor-shields and he intended to keep that secret intact.

Thankfully, the layout of the Dosadi city allowed them to have a hide virtually in the middle of town. As long as no one decided to come traipsing through the middle of the woods, they were fine. The lead scout held his hand up again and everyone dropped into concealment. Kalekt tried not to sigh. It was after midnight, there was a strong wind and freezing rain. These people were insane to be out in this crap. If they had any sense at all they would be inside, warm and dry with something to drink.

He looked where the scout had indicated and had a hard time seeing anyone or anything. Finally he saw a small, very dark shape slipping down the path. That was strange. His enhancers finally resolved the image – it was a child, all black, and struggling to make progress in the rain and the mud. The entire species was nuts. They laid still, their weapons tracking on the idiot child as it slipped and slid past them, continuing wherever it was these people went in the middle of the night.

After it had gone, they resumed their own journey. At least the hide had some protection from the wind and rain.

When the door to his house started to slide open again, Corin sat up, shocked. There was no way...But sure enough, finally struggling through was little Rileeta, soaked to the skin, muddy, and shaking so badly she could barely make the door work. "What the _hell?_" he stood up and walked towards the girl. "What are you doing here, Ri? You're freezing!"

Shaking, her teeth chattering and trying not to cry she stuttered out "I..I..m..m..s...s..sorry! I w..w..anna s..s..staay hhheere."

"Ri, we gotta get you warmed up, let's get you in the shower before you turn into an iceetreat." He picked the shivering child up and carried her to the fresher. Turning the water on to luke-warm, he said, "Get those soaking wet things off." but she was shaking so badly he had to help her, finally lifting her into the warm water shower. After a few moments she wasn't shaking as badly but was obviously still waiting for him to yell at her.

"You're crazy, Ri." he said gently. "Here, let's get that mud off of you too." he handed her a scrubber and a bottle of soap. "Let me get you something to sleep in, we can't take you back to Veth's in this weather." and he left the fresher.

Fifteen minutes later, she came out wrapped in a towel, and looking very meek. He handed her the fuzzy warm sleeping shirt that his neighbor had given him and looked at her sternly. "Ri. Why did you go out in this mess? You could have frozen to death you know."

She didn't say anything, looking down at her feet while she put the shirt on.

He just shook his head. "Let's talk about it in the morning. You've gotta be exhausted." He went back to his favorite spot and she crawled in after him, curling up next to him again, holding onto his arm.

"Please don't make me leave." she whispered.

"Ri, why? You know you're better off there. We've talked about this."

"No, you talked. You didn't listen to me. You just wanted to get rid of me."

"That's not true and you know it. I just don't understand why you want to stay here? It doesn't make any sense. What's here that's not there? They've got..."

"You."

He laughed, "Ri, I'm not that loveable and I'm a lousy parent."

"I want to stay with you."

"Are you going to sneak back here every time I take you home?"

"This is home." she said stubbornly.

"Are you? That's not very nice to Veth and Feros and S'eth."

"S'eth helps me. She's my friend. She thinks I should stay with you too."

"She's going to get in trouble for that again."

"She knows. She doesn't care."

He blinked. "What do you mean she doesn't care?"

"She says it's the right thing to do and her dad says you should always do the right thing even if you get in trouble."

"Well yes, but this isn't the right thing."

"Veth thinks I should stay here too."

"What?! He didn't tell you that!"

"No, we heard him and Feros talking. Everyone thinks I should stay here. They think you're wrong."

Corin shook his head. Outnumbered indeed. "So you're gonna keep sneaking back here."

"Yes." she held his arm tightly.

"I guess the only way you're gonna learn how bad an idea that is will be for you to stay for a few days then. You're going to hate it and you're going to end up hating me too. I don't know how to take care of a kit."

She turned her head over her shoulder and looked up at him, hope in her eyes. "I can stay? You promise? I won't bother you or be bad or anything!"

"For a few days, anyway, Ri. Until you get tired of it and want to go home."

She rolled over and wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face in his side.

He squeezed her back and said, "Ri, you are nuts. Let's get some sleep – PT in the morning!"

The following morning Yun was at the beach again, watching their workout and the sun rise. When they came out of the water, she came sauntering over. "Do you teach anyone how to do that slow moving thing?"

"Tai Chi!" Ri supplied helpfully.

"Uh, I guess if you want to learn I can. I'm a little surprised you want to learn a military exercise though."

"I like learning new things." she smiled at them both. "And it doesn't look terribly violent, moving so slowly."

Corin relaxed a little bit, "Well, I don't usually like killing before breakfast. That's more of an afternoon thing."

Yun laughed, "Well, it's important to keep a schedule. Are you going to be bringing her out here every morning? I hadn't seen anyone on this beach for the last month. I thought it was my little secret."

"Well, at least until she gets tired of it. Looks like she'll be staying with me for a little while – and this used to be _my _secret spot."

"Loner, huh?"

"Anyway, let me show you how to breathe first, then we'll get to how to stand and how to move. It's all about control, and calmness and smooth movements..."

When they had finished, Yun said, "That's a lot harder than it looks!" They sat down on the soft sand and watched Ri scamper about. Even with the colder winter temperatures, the weather was fine this morning, the rain washed sky a clear, pale blue.

Corin grinned, "Isn't it amazing how hard it is to move slowly? Seems like it would be easier than running or punching, doesn't it?"

"You seem really nice. Why are you in the military?"

Corin took offense, "What, nice people can't be in the military?"

"I'm sorry, that sounded rude – I just meant you're not what I expected from a Soldier, especially not a Raider. I've heard...I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be nasty."

"What have you heard?" he demanded.

"Look, I really am sorry. You're really the first Soldier I've ever talked to. In C'orlean, we spend more time on art and poetry and philosophy."

"It's fine." except it was clear it wasn't fine. "There are a lot of stories that go around, they're usually crap. Which ones did you hear?"

She really wanted to change the topic, but had trapped herself. "Well, that the Raiders weren't um, very nice. That they're mostly bullies and killers."

Corin clamped his jaws together. He sighed, "I've heard that one before too. We're not what people say we are. We're not pirates, we're not murderers, we're not crazy, we're not bullies. We're just very, very good at doing what needs to be done. We pay the price so that you folks don't have to and get to be philosophers and artists and call us bullies and crazy."

"But we aren't at war with anyone are we? No one is trying to invade Dosad or anything like that."

"You might be surprised what is going on out there that you never hear about. The Emperor doesn't publicize everything that happens."

She decided this was a good time to change the subject, "No, I suppose he doesn't. Are you going to go to the memorial games next month? They were always huge back home."

Ri had been splashing about in the waves and playing in the sand. Corin looked over at her, "Yes. There are a lot of people I want to remember, and see remembered by others. And there's a man I don't know whom I need to honor. It's important. How about you?"

"I always go. I did even before I lost my mate, I think it's important to remember people, to share their stories."

"Is that why you moved here? Did he just die recently?"

She looked down, "It feels like it. But no, it was twenty years ago. I just can't let him go yet. I thought if I went someplace totally different, maybe I'd be able to." Dosadi mate for life, and it wasn't uncommon for the surviving member of a broken pair to lose themselves in grief. Usually their close friends would pull them through and help them to find someone new, but that wasn't always possible. Sometimes they would just give up on themselves, sometimes they would just stay alone, but remain within their circles of friends. Occasionally, like Yun, they would try to restart their lives by going someplace totally new.

"What was he like?"

She smiled. "He was so gentle. He was an artist – he was brilliant, a glass-painter. His works are almost magical." Glass painting was a Dosadi art form but not one that had achieved wide popularity in the galaxy. It wasn't images painted _on_ glass, it was images painted _with _glass. Faint tints and changes in the material allowed the artist to create a single flat pane with images built into the glass. In many ways it resembled stained glass but with a fluidity and level of detail that stained glass could never achieve. In addition the degree of opacity and polarity could be tightly controlled so that in the finest works, the image could only be seen by looking at a particular angle and in all other respects the glass appeared clear.

"I've only seen a few of those," Corin admitted, "But they're spectacular. I've seen one that just lit up when the sun shone through it. Always looked like magic to me."

She stood up and brushed the sand off her fur. "I need to get going...Maybe I'll show you one some day. I kept a couple of his pieces when I moved." She smiled down at him. "Good luck with your kit." She turned to leave, this time brushing her tail under his chin. "Bye!"

Corin watched her walk away across the beach. He couldn't decide if she was more irritating or interesting. Come to think of it, it had been a long while since he found someone interesting. And why was she bothering to talk to him? She couldn't be that interested in learning Tai Chi. But she couldn't be interested in _him_. Soldiers were clearly not high on her list at all. Maybe she just wanted to be around a kit; a lot of childless females seemed to like other people's kits. He noticed Ri had been asking him something. "Sorry, what?"

"Is she going to come back tomorrow, too?"

"I think so. I'm not sure."

"I hope so. She's nice."

Corin laughed, "Well, she sure doesn't think much of what _I_ do. But we should head home and get some chow – no more field rats for you!"

"Yaaay!" she helped haul him to his feet and they headed home.

IMPERIAL DOSADI FRIGATE ISS SANGET, IN ORBIT OVER DOSAD

MARCH, 2310

Nelson looked down from the open bay at the back of the frigate. They had let him have his sensor-glasses back for this, at least. The training had been very thorough. He'd done half a dozen simulated drops. He could do this. But as he watched the green and blue ball turning below him, an icy river of fear was dropping down his back.

His instructor asked him, "Well? Are you going to jump or admire the view for a while longer?"

Wilkes laughed, "Give him a second. Humans have a much stronger fear of heights than Dosadi do. He'll get there."

Nelson looked at the older man gratefully. Despite a somewhat rocky start, he was growing to like and respect him. He was afraid it was going to tint his reporting on him and his strange family. He looked back down, trying to find his courage.

"Think of the story you'll be able to tell with the clips from this, and from the real drop, Nelson. You'll be the first reporter _ever_ with a combat drop. But you've gotta get through this first."

He closed his eyes, flexed his knees and dove off the edge of the deck, leaving the gravity field of the frigate and falling freely. The com system in the bay broadcast his voice for several seconds: "HHHHOOOOOOOLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY FFFUUCCCKIINNGGG SSSSHHHHHHHIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!"

Wilkes laughed again, turning to the instructor and asking, "Not quite 'Geronimo', was it?"

The old Force Leader looked puzzled. "Geronimo?"

"Never mind. Ancient Earth history. Make sure you keep a tape of that, I'm gonna wanna play that when he gets back on the ground." They watched him tracking straight down into the thickening atmosphere, clean and true.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MARCH, 2310

Kalekt and his team were nearly ready to go home from this miserable world with it's too-bright yellow-white sun, it's freezing cold temperatures and constant rain. With it's insane populace who wandered everywhere, seemingly without rhyme or reason, straying from paths into the forest on a whim at all hours of the day and night. But they had made it through and had collected a staggering amount of intelligence. All their remote sensors but one had been collected and they were slowly moving towards that one. They should have it tonight, then one more night in their hide and they could board the lighter for the Orion freighter that would take them home.

Every two years the different Dosadi districts put on a festival of remembrance called the memorial games. Part multi-state state fair, part ceremony, part music festival, part athletic competition they were always something special. Beyond remembering those who had died in the past, they allowed people to meet those from other social circles. Many young people found their mates at a memorial games and many other people formed friendships that broadened their own web of friends. It was a peculiarity of Dosadi culture that remembering the dead turned into such a celebration of life, and all that was good about being alive.

They lasted for seven days and no two were alike. You could walk from one end of the games to the other and pass groups of people competing in sport, in one-on-one combat, or simply telling the stories of friends, comrades, and loved ones who were no longer able to tell their own tale. Then you might pass a group of bards competing for the adulation of crowds, or a solemn dedication to the gods, or places to enjoy food or drink, or to trade for works of art.

Tonight was the first night of T'Elesh's memorial games and Corin was hurrying little Ri along. The list of friends he wanted to share stories about was long, and this year he needed to be sure to tell the tale of the old man who had saved his life. It had been his tradition for many years, on the first night, to raise a glass for each story he had to tell on later nights. Despite the festive atmosphere of the games, the memories of the men and women he had led to their deaths, or who had failed to come home from their own missions put him in a somber mood and tended to make him more isolated than usual. He glanced up at the sky. With any luck it wouldn't rain tonight.

Ri could tell that he was in a different mood from what she had seen before and it made her nervous. She was excited to see the games though – Eletha was too raw, too new, to do much in the way of a memorial and she had been too young to really pay attention to the one she had gone to there. There were lights visible in the deepening twilight though, and music and there were already all sorts of interesting smells coming down on the breeze as Corin led them along the path. She thought he looked very handsome in his Raider uniform and hoped that Yun would be there to see him. She was nice and she was just perfect for him to make friends with. She was lonely too.

Finally they arrived in the big, open green that was clustered with raised platforms, tents, rings, and places to sit. And everywhere were people. More people than she had ever seen before! Right in the front was a pair of bards and people playing instruments, evidently having a musical fight. The far group was playing a fast-moving old tune about a battle in Dosadi's ancient history and the crowd was loving it.

Corin laughed and said, "I might've known. Look, Ri! That's my sister, Nollos!"

"Huh? Who? Where?"

He pointed at the woman standing on the platform watching the other band. He worked his way towards the front of the crowd and caught her eye. Her face lit up with a feral grin and she said something to her teammates who began putting down Dosadi instruments and picking up strange looking Earth instruments instead.

"You're just what I needed, Corin! They wanna step it up, fine, we'll step it up! Come with me." She began to drag him towards the platform.

"Hey, wait a second, I don't wanna go up there!"

"Don't be silly, you'll love it. C'mon!" Ri giggled as the woman pulled on his arm, forcing him to follow along. She whispered to him, "This is one of our most popular songs, you don't have to do anything, OK? Just stand there. The crowd will love it! We'll crush those guys over there!"

"Nollos, I really am not the type...I don't want to..." but she shushed him as the other team finished their tune to the loud cheers of the crowd. After they settled down, they turned back to Nollos and her team, many of the fans wondering what the instruments they were holding were. She had become quite popular across Dosad but that didn't mean everyone knew that much about her or her music and stories.

She spoke, her voice going husky, the throat mic sending her voice out across the crowd. "This is an old tune from Earth that my sister found for me! I think you'll like it – it's about _WHISKEY!_" The crowd cheered and she said, "Well, there's whiskey in the chorus anyway." and they laughed along with her. The musicians started to play and the strange sounds of an electric guitar and human drums and cymbals began to blast across the crowd.

_As I was goin' over the high Dosadi Mountains_

she moved behind Corin so the people in front couldn't see her.

_I saw Captain Corin and his money, he was countin' _

and she peeked her head out over his shoulder to the cheers of the crowd. It wasn't often a Raider got fun poked at him.

_I first produced my pistol _

She reached into his sash and pulled out a small phaser, despite his attempt to grab her wrist, the crowd roaring with approval.

_and then produced my rapier_

Her other hand came up with a traditional Dosadi flat-bladed knife from his boot, brandishing them high as she stepped out beside him, pretending to 'cover' him with his own weapons.

_I said, "Stand and deliver or Loreth she may take ya" _  
She smoothly pocketed his weapons and whipped his sash off, with a look of triumph. Corin's hands went to his waist and he wondered when his sister became a pick-pocket, while the crowd cheered her dexterity and audacity.

_I took all of his money_ _and it was a pretty penny _

_I took all of his money, yeah, _

She jumped off the stage, landing next to a man and his mate and child, sidling up to him with a big smile while she sang.

_and I brought it home to my mate._

_He swore that he loved me, no, never would he leave me _

_But Loreth take that old man, yeah, for you know he tricked me easy _

She pushed at his chest and he stepped back while his friends clapped him on the back and cheered.

_Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_There's whiskey in the jar, oh _

She took hold of the man's arm and dragged him towards the stage._  
Being drunk and weary I went to my love's chamber_

_Takin' my mate with me but I never knew the danger _

Leaving him, she jumped nimbly up on the stage, her voice never missing a beat.

_For about six or maybe seven, yeah, _

She pointed at Corin,

_in walked Captain Corin!_

There were a few good-natured boos and hisses amid the cheers.

_I jumped up, fired my pistols and I shot him with both barrels _

She waved the phaser in Corin's direction without ever pointing it at him and the crowd cheered again.

_Yeah, musha rain dum a doo, dum a da, ha, yeah _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_There's whiskey in the jar, oh  
Yeah, whiskey, yo, whiskey Oh, oh, yeah Oh, oh, yeah _

By now, people were singing along with the chorus and she jumped back down to the ground again, moving from one man to the next and stroking their faces while she sang and the band sent the driving beat across the crowd.

_Now some men like a fishin' _

_but some men like the fowlin' _

She came to a uniformed Soldier and poked him on the chest.

_Some men like to hear, to hear the cannonball roarin' _

A number of his fellow troops cheered loudly.

_But me, I like sleepin', _

With a big smile and an exaggerated wiggle to her hips she quickly walked back to her original victim,

_'specially in my lover's chamber _

and then jumped back onto the platform, wrapping Corin's sash around her wrists.

_But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain, yeah _  
_Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da, heh, heh _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_Drink for my daddy, oh _

_There's whiskey in the jar, oh, yeah Whiskey in the jar, oh  
Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da _

_Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da, hey _

_Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da _

_Musha rain dum a doo, dum a da, yeah_

The strains of music faded away the crowd roared for more. She hugged Corin tight to more cheers and handed him back the things she had stolen from him. She whispered to him, "That was perfect, Corin! Thank you!" and gave him a quick Dosadi kiss.

Ri was delighted and raced up onto the platform to hug Corin and Nollos, shocked, said, "Who's this?!"

The other band had evidently elected to try things a bit slower and was playing a softer ballad this time.

"This is Rileeta, I'm sort of responsible for her, I guess." he explained as he tried to put his uniform back together.

"He saved me!" she volunteered.

"YOU'RE taking care of a kit?" she checked his nose with the back of her hand, "Are you feeling OK, big brother? You're not planning on turning her into an assassin or something are you?" she teased.

He shot her a disgusted look, "No, not this week anyway. Check back with me next week. Where did that song come from?"

She smiled, "Heather found it for me. It's really popular, but this is the first time I've been able to really get the crowd involved. It took the guys forever to learn how to play those weird old Earth instruments but it's such a totally different sound people really love it."

He waved at his sister's teammates who were busily switching back to other instruments "Hey guys!"

"Never thought I'd see you with a kit, Corin!" the man who had been playing guitar said.

"Yeah, me either." he agreed with a laugh.

"Hey, we gotta do the next song, are you going to be at mom and dad's later?"

"I dunno, maybe tomorrow. I need to take care of some remembrances tonight."

She frowned, "Corin, you drink too much when you do that." She pointed at Ri, "You can't do that with her. You're a rotten drunk."

He started heading off the platform with Ri tagging along, "I'll figure it out, Nollos. You worry about me too much."

"And you don't enough. It averages out. Thanks for helping me."

They left, Ri holding his hand, but looking over her shoulder at the musicians. He started making his way through the crowd but heard her begin, "Okay, instead of a ballad, I'm going to tell a story! A heroic story of three hundred warriors facing down a _million _foes!" The band started playing a soft accompaniment on the Dosadi version of a bagpipe, the trusk.

Nelson was enthralled. "That's your daughter?"

Wilkes and Sooth were standing with him at the back of the crowd, holding hands. She said, with all a mother's pride, "Yes. Doesn't she sing wonderfully? Wait'll you hear her tell a story! She can use her voice to really make it come alive."

"It's amazing. And I can't believe she did that to Corin! I thought he was going to flip out!"

Wilkes said, "Yeah, I'm more than a little surprised myself. She made it work though." He thought for a moment, "Nelson, you're going to want to steer very clear of Corin tonight, OK?"

"I hadn't planned on looking him up, but why?"

He frowned. "He'll be drinking a lot tonight. He's a mean drunk."

"If it's OK with you two then, I'll stay right close to you. Any chance you can introduce me to your daughter? I hadn't been able to find much on her in my research."

Sooth smiled, "She'll be staying with us tonight. It'll be really late before everyone heads home tonight, but she'll be there in the morning too. Things usually don't really get started until around ten or eleven after the first night."

Corin and Ri hadn't gone more than a hundred meters before Yun caught up to them. "So, you're an entertainer too?"

He laughed, "No, that's my sister. I didn't know she was going to drag me up there like that."

"That's you're _sister? _I've heard of her. She's quite the bard. I've got some of her stuff at home. I had no idea you had someone some famous in your family."

"I'm not really used to it either." he admitted.

Ri reached up and took her hand as they walked along, holding Corin's hand in her other hand.

"So, any other famous people hiding out in there?" she smiled at him.

He thought she had a nice smile. Friendly, even if she did think he was some sort of psychotic killer. "Not really. There's four of us..."

"Four? Big family. Um. Can I ask a personal question?"

"Sure, I guess. I may not answer it though." he cautioned.

"You look...a little...different."

He sighed. "You know that's my sister, but you don't know why we look different?"

"I don't think I've ever read why she looks like she does. I just assumed she had herself made to look different so she stood out from the other bards. And it works! I never connected that to how you look. She's marked differently than you too."

He shook his head. "Yeah, we're all different. Our father is human."

She was clearly shocked. "Really? I didn't even know that was possible."

"It's not, really. We're..." he sighed again. "We were put together in a lab by a mad scientist on Earth. There was only supposed to be one of us, but all four eggs turned out to be viable, much to his surprise."

"Mad scientist?"

"Sorry, old joke. He was a brilliant man, but _I_ think he was more than a little nuts. It's not exactly a hybrid you'd think of, you know?"

The walked on for a little bit. "So you've got another two siblings?"

"Yup. Another sister who's in Starfleet and a brother who's a farmer on Earth. Nothing terribly weird."

"I had no idea. I'm sorry if that was a rude question."

"Nah, I'm used to it."

Ri chimed in, "His parents are really nice and his mom's got really pretty blue eyes and his dad's pink because he's a human!"

"Well! Imagine that!" She squeezed Ri's hand.

Corin finally found the tent he was looking for. "Would you two do me a favor?"

Yun asked, "What is it?"

"This is something of a tradition for me, every memorial, I drink a glass of whiskey for each of my friends and teammates who didn't make it home. It's my way of remembering them and sharing something for them that they can't do any more."

She looked at him, "That's got to be a lot of whiskey if half the stories I've heard are true."

"About Raiders?"

"No, about _you."_

"_ME?"_ He was a little surprised. "How did you hear stories about me?"

"I asked." she laughed at his expression. "It's pretty normal, really, Corin."

"Yeah, but how would you feel if I asked people about you?"

"Feel free." she smiled smugly. "No one here really knows me yet."

"That's cheating."

"Oh well." she smirked. "So let me guess, you want Ri and me to go and find something else to do while you drink for your missing friends?"

"Would that be OK? Ri? I'm not going to be any fun to be around for the next couple of hours, I'm just going to sit here drinking stuff that smells awful and remembering people you've never even heard of."

She pouted. "I bet you'd have more fun if you went and looked around with us."

"I'm sure I would Ri. But I need to do this for my friends who aren't here any more. It's a tradition."

Yun gave her arm a little shake. "Come on, Ri, it'll be fun just you and I. We can go see all sorts of fun things and then come back and get your fath...Corin."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Yun. I really didn't know how I was going to do this – I was really glad to see you."

She smiled at him again, "Just remember, you owe me now." And led little Ri off into the games.

Corin headed into the tent and got a bottle of green Dosadi whiskey and as he always did, began to drink a glass for each and every one of his friends and comrades who weren't around to drink their own whiskey any more. This year, he started with one for the old man on Eletha who's name he still didn't know.

As he drank, he became more and more depressed. He'd raise the glass and say a name, remember the person while admiring the color, and then swiftly drink it down. Every memorial, it took longer to get through the names. Every time, it got harder to keep from just smashing the table. So many of them died pointlessly. Accidents or bad luck or on missions that were a complete waste of time and effort. So many had left behind mates and kits and all of them left behind friends and loved ones that he could no longer bear to face.

Also as he drank, people gave his table a wider and wider berth. The Raider uniform was one thing, but the dark expression on the face of the scarred, strange-looking man slamming down the whiskey was more than enough reason to find somewhere else to be.

How many of those had died because of his orders? Because of his stupidity, or lack of strength, or speed, or skill, or awareness? How many because he was too fucking dumb to say no to one mission or another? How many had died so that he and the rest of the team could go home instead of them? How many because he didn't train them properly, or because he didn't make the risks clear or remind them of some failure of attention? How many because he wasn't there? There were so many faces.

And then there were the faces of the people he had killed with his own hand. Shooting someone in combat was one thing. But he had used a knife, or a garrote, or other special equipment more times than he wanted to count. And their faces just wouldn't go away. It was easier to keep them quiet when he was busy, or working out. But when he drank, it was as though all his mental discipline went away. It was one reason he didn't drink often. It let them out. And they just wouldn't go away. Each of them demanded remembrance as much as his teammates did.

It was as though they said that it was such a small thing; he had ended their stories so it was up to him to at least remember them, to carry them with him. Such a small thing to ask, wasn't it? To simply remember a face every couple of years? There was a young Antican face that stared at him with empty eyes. And a promising young Cardassian warrior. Probably neither of them had mates. Hell, they had probably never even kissed a girl. Those were new ones. Hadn't had time to get used to those two yet.

He shook his head and the vision cleared to be Yun's concerned face and Ri's bright green eyes peering at him, her head barely above the table top. Yun asked, "Corin? Are you OK?"

"Course I'm OK." he snapped, angry at being surprised.

She lifted up the empty bottle. "Did you drink all of this by yourself? In just the last couple of hours?"

"Hours?" It hadn't been hours. Damn woman was nuts. "What's it to you? It was mine to drink. I like whiskey."

She was surprised. So was Ri. "I was just worried, that's a lot of..."

"Stop worrying about me. Everyone needs to fucking stop worrying about me. I'm fine."

Ri's ears were back, her eyes wide. This was scary. "Corin?" she asked in a tiny little voice.

"_You_ need to figure out I'm not some hero, I'm not what you think I am. I kill people. It's what I do. I'm fucking dangerous."

"I...I...didn't..." she blinked back tears.

Yun took her hand. "Ri, he didn't mean it. He's drunk. He didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We need to go and come back later on."

He tried to pour another glass from the empty bottle. "Maybe if everyone just left me the hell alone I wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings. Ya think?" He watched them walk away.

How long had he been staring at that damn empty bottle? Maybe get another one? No, he finally decided. He should probably go...somewhere. Not home. There was something awful at home. He wasn't too clear on what that was right now. Too many other things yammering in his head for attention. He'd figure it out later. He stood up and made his way out of the tent.

It had always been a point of pride for him that no matter how hammered he got, it never affected his balance or coordination. And in truth, it had been some time since he had his last shot. Time got goofy when he drank though. It was late, he knew that, but he wasn't too sure how late. He had left his chrono at home, like an idiot. Forgetting equipment now; That was a sure sign he shouldn't be going into the field any more. Or maybe he should. That was one way to shut the damn voices up. Maybe find some useful way to not come home again.

He shouldered his way between two people who were walking towards him like they owned the damn path, hearing their loud 'oofs' as they bounced off him. He was just going to keep walking but he heard one of them say,

"Hey! You owe us an apology! You don't just smash into people like that!"

He turned around, angry, and heard the other one, maybe his mate, say "Shhh! Don't start..."

"You got something you want to say to me?" He stepped towards the male. He was small, slightly pudgy, and wore glasses; an odd affectation in this day and age. He looked meek. His mate was overweight and smelled frightened.

The little man swallowed and looked up at Corin, the white of his shirt bright in the darkness. "Yes. You ran into us. You owe us an apology."

She tried to pull her mate away again, "Don't, he's one of those Raiders. Don't make him mad..." But he pulled his shoulder out from under her hand.

"No. He's wrong. I'm not going to just let him do whatever he wants because he's bigger or crazy or whatever. He needs to do the right thing."

They were attracting a small crowd.

"You ran into _me_ little man. Next time you need to watch where you're going. So you might want to listen to whoever that is before I have to teach you a lesson."

She was frantically trying to get her mate to walk away.

"We did not. Everyone saw it." He swallowed again. "Either apologize or...or...I'll make you apologize."

Corin laughed. "Seriously? You want to challenge me?" It would be _fun_ to take this little mouse and make him understand his place in the world.

"If you don't apologize, yes." There were a few murmurs from the crowd. Corin wasn't paying all that much attention. The man's mate was almost in tears.

"No, no he's not serious. He's just had a bad day We'll go."

"Oh, I don't think so." Corin said. "There's a ring right over there, let's go and you can 'make me'."

In the few minutes it took them to get to the ring and strip down for the challenge, Corin's brain had cleared slightly. As he took his place in the ring, he noticed that there didn't really seem to be anyone cheering for him. In fact, there were likely to be a few more challengers after he finished little mousey-man. What the hell was wrong with these people?

The little man entered the ring and looked at Corin. He smelled absolutely terrified. His mate was in tears and his friends' faces were grim. He said, "Are you going to apologize?"

Corin snorted. "For what?"

"For running into us. For being rude. Just because you're some super duper killer type doesn't mean you get to be a bully to everyone else. You're supposed to do the _right_ thing. You're supposed to be someone people can look up to, not someone everyone's afraid of."

Corin was stunned. "I'm not a bully."

"You are too. Fine. You won't apologize. Let's fight then!" he took up a rather clumsy stance and began to slowly advance on Corin.

It would take about three seconds to absolutely destroy this man. He had no idea what he was doing.

Corin watched him move cautiously closer. He hadn't even taken his own stance. Bully? He wasn't a bully. He defended these people. He protected them.

How much courage did it take for this weak little clerk to challenge him?

The man paused. "Well? Are you going to fight or just stand there?"

If he protected them, then what was he doing about to break some poor little man into pieces? He looked over at his opponent's mate. She had both her hands over her mouth. Did it take any courage for him to step into the ring with someone who had no chance at all? To pick a fight just because he wanted to break something?

He was in the wrong. What he was doing was wrong. The little man punched Corin across the face.

"Fight!" he shouted. Corin had barely noticed the blow. It lacked power and he had probably done more damage to his hand than to Corin's jaw. He punched again, hitting Corin in the belly with almost no noticeable effect.

"I'm sorry." Corin said.

"What?" the man stepped back, his guard still up.

"You're right. I was wrong."

The shock was obvious. "Are you going to apologize? I'll hit you again if I have to!"

Corin hung his head, ashamed. "Yes. I apologize to you and to your mate for running into you, and for being rude. I'm sorry. I was...I mean I had been...I'm sorry. I have no excuse."

Stunned, he said, "Well. OK then. I misjudged you." He reached his hand up to Corin's broad, scarred shoulder. After a moment, Corin did the same, ending the match. The man's mate pounced on him in a second, never doubting her mate's courage or asking more of him than he could give. His friends cheered and hoisted him up with a laugh, carrying him off.

Corin thought that that man would get his first honor tattoo before he left the games tonight. Maybe his being such a despicable ass wasn't all bad. He sat down in the ring, alone, and wondered what the hell was wrong with himself.

At least it wasn't raining, Kalekt thought to himself as his team crept back towards the hide. They had managed to collect the last remote sensor and it was mission accomplished. But there was some sort of festival going on that brought the civilians out in droves. They were _everywhere_. Getting back to their hide meant they would have to cut entirely too close to the big green that was the center of activity, and to a path they had been up and down too often for his comfort.

Using hand signals he ordered the team to cross the path, one at a time. They were half-way through the crossing when their luck turned. The man dashing across caught his foot on a root at the same time a child ran around a corner of the path and she saw something fall.

Everyone on the team froze in place. The child came scampering up, her parents strolling around the same corner perhaps 20 meters away. The only sensible thing to do was shoot all three of them immediately. As Kalekt brought his sights to bear on the little girl, he hesitated, his thoughts going back to his own daughter. Maybe she would keep going, but no, she was crouching down to look at the trooper in his ghillie suit, suddenly seeing a man.

With a child's terrified shriek they were undone.

The male came rushing forward and there was nothing else to do. Two phaser shots screamed into the night, dropping the adults as they hurried forward, but the damage was done. Yelling 'MOVE!' to his team, he saw another male ducking behind a tree further down the path. And he had a communicator.

Alert sirens began to wail as they ran and artificial lights clunked on, casting a garish light throughout the forest paths. Perhaps the shadows they created would help. But he could hear the shouts of alarm and anger as people came rushing towards the disturbance. Where the hell did all of these people come from? Didn't they have someplace to be? What would possess them to charge into the woods after an armed team of Soldiers? Didn't they have enough common sense to run _away_ from gunfire?

And the damn Dosadi senses were working against him as well. The noise they made running through the forest was helping them to close in on his team. They had to break contact, to get away. He yelled an order that moved his team to a bounding retreat. The first three men stopped and turned, covering their back path and Kalekt sprinted past as a phaser took out a chunk of tree by his head. He dropped to the forest floor.

Turning around he saw his men engaging a ragged skirmish line of Dosadi – and _all_ of them had weapons of one sort or another. What the _hell?!_ Was the entire planet armed? One old man was carrying a _spear_. There were too many to keep them away. He shook his head and ordered, "BOUND!"

He and his men leapt up and ran to the next line of three troopers who were providing cover fire. When he and his three troopers dropped and turned to fire he noticed that there were only two...There was a loud bang as the missing man's dead-man switch went off, destroying the secret gear and data rods that he was carrying.

Yun was still holding Ri's hand as they walked away from the memorial games. "I'm sorry we couldn't find Corin, sweetie. I'm sure he's fine though."

"Why was he so mad at me?" Yun had managed to distract the child with all the interesting things to see and do at the games, but that had only been putting off the inevitable.

"Oh, Ri, he wasn't really mad at you. He was drunk. You know what that is, don't you?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Yes, lots of people on Eletha did that. But he was too mad at me, I smelled it. And he yelled at me." Her ears, whiskers and tail were all drooping. "Doesn't he like me any more? Did I do something wrong?"

Yun stopped them and crouched down to talk with the little girl. "Ri, you didn't do anything. And he does too still like you. I think that's why he said what he did."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Sweetie, his whole life, everything about him is fighting people and hurting people and..."

"He isn't like that! He saved me!"

"I know, Ri. He's not a bad man. But he's a Soldier. They have to do horrible things. And he doesn't understand what's happening to him. And that scares him and makes him angry because he doesn't know what to do."

"What scares him? I didn't think anything scared _him._"

"You do, Ri. I think you absolutely terrify Corin."

"ME?"

She sat down, tucking her legs under herself. "Yes. Because you are soft, and sweet, and full of life and love and he has no idea what to do with someone like that. He's trained to be hard, and cold, and full of death and violence."

"Why would that be scary? Isn't the other one scary?"

"What we don't know is scary, Ri. Have you ever heard a scary noise and been really afraid, and then found out it was something silly?"

"Yes, that happens a lot."

Yun squeezed her hand. "That's what's happening to Corin. He loves you and he doesn't really know how to deal with that. And because he's afraid, he said mean things. He didn't mean them."

Ri thought about that for a while. "Huh." she finally decided.

Yun stood up, "Do you know how to get home? I'll walk with you all the way. He's going to be...Well, he might still be drunk when he gets home, Ri."

"I know how. I'll show you!" And she led the way down the path.

Behind them there were some high pitched noises and people shouting.

"What's all that?" Yun asked. "The games are getting noisy!" Then the town's alert sirens went off and lights began coming on along the path.

"What's wrong?" Ri asked, afraid.

"I don't know. I haven't been here long enough; do they go off very often?"

"Me either! I don't know! What do we do? Is that shooting? It doesn't sound like Corin's gun."

"Ri, we need to find someplace to hide. Where's the nearest house?"

The little girl thought hard. "It's back the way we came, I think. But that's towards all the noise!"

"Is it very far?"

"I don't think so. We can run!" They started off at a lope, but had gone no more than a few paces before Yun twisted her ankle and went down.

"Damn! OW!" She wrapped her hands around her ankle.

Ri was getting scared. The noises were coming closer, and so were the shouts. "Yun! Get up! Please! We need to run!"

She struggled upright, but her left leg wouldn't bear much weight. "Okay, Ri. We'll get there. Help me and we'll make it." They began hobbling towards a lone, small roundhouse a few dozen meters ahead. There was a man standing in front of it with a phaser in his hand. "Thank the gods. We'll be fine, Ri."

Corin was still sitting in the challenge ring when his ears perked up. Phasers made a sound that was impossible to mistake when they fired. Who the hell was firing off phasers tonight? Idiots.

Then the sirens began to wail. He stood up, seeing the lights going on in the forest and hearing shouts and more phaser fire. Like Soldiers everywhere, he ran to the sound of the guns.

Kalekt was panting and in pain. Some idiot had actually shot him in the leg with an arrow, getting a phaser to the head for his trouble. An arrow! It was as though his team was trying to fight a rear-guard action against an entire planet of lunatics. There was only him and Glinn Durel left now and he was wounded as well.

Durel knelt down, grimacing in pain. "There – We can use that house as a bunker. Gotta be better than trying to fight through these damn woods any more. They're everywhere."

"Right. OK, you hit the guy with the phaser, then we run for it. I'm out of power."

"Ready." Durel's shot was on target and the two of them jumped up and started to run for the little house across the path. They hadn't gone more than a couple of meters when another shot came from behind them and Durel was gone as well.

Kalekt was desperate. As he cleared the wood line there were two more Dosadi; a woman and a child. He needed a shield. His knife was out in a flash. The woman said something like "Wait! We can talk..." and then she went down quickly while he grabbed the screaming child and held her in front of himself while he backed through the sliding door into the house, looking at the Dosadi streaming down the path and out of the woods towards him.

Sooth, Wilkes, and Nelson had come up the path from the main part of town in time to see Kalekt's last run into the house. All three of them recognized Rileeta immediately.

So had Corin, arriving at a dead run. He skidded up to Yun's crumpled form, his phaser in hand, covering the doorway while he grabbed her by her trousers and dragged her back. Then Soral was there and he let the medic take charge. Her entire chest was soaked with blood and her eyes were closed. Her mouth was wide open and her tongue had fallen out to one side. He had no idea if she was alive or dead and no time to figure it out.

It took a few minutes for Corin to understand what had happened while he was trying to organize the group around the house. Wilkes and Sooth came over, towing Nelson along. Corin turned to his father, "Captain, you're the ranking officer, Starfleet or not. How do you want to handle this?"

Wilkes looked at the little house now surrounded by lines of armed Dosadi, many of whom were military, all of whom were armed. "What a mess."

Kalekt shouted from within the house, in Standard, "I've got a hostage and I've got a dead-man switch on enough explosives to level the entire house. Don't be stupid!"

Wilkes said, "Well, so much for rushing him or sniping him. Got any ideas, Commander?"

Corin thought for a few moments. How many times had his team been a heartbeat away from this sort of disaster? How would he have reacted? "I think so. Maybe. Trust me?"

"How drunk are you?"

"Pretty fucking drunk, sir. But I can make it work, I think. I'm responsible for her."

Wilkes studied his son. The voice from the house called out again, "I just want to leave! Give me safe-passage off planet and I'll release the child! No one else has to die!"

"All right, Commander. It's on you."

Corin looked at Soral and some other medic he didn't know working on Yun. That was likely to be a good sign. If she was dead, they wouldn't be so focused on her. He stepped in front of the door to the house. "I am Lieutenant Commander Corin, Dosadi Imperial Navy. Who are you?"

Kalekt peeked through the opening, seeing Corin standing alone and in full view. If he had any charge left in his phaser, he would be an easy shot. Did they know he was empty? No, they were just all insane.

"If you kill me, this entire house will blow up." he said. "All I want to do is leave."

"No one will bother you while we talk. You have my word of honor."

The Cardassian thought that he might be able to talk his way out of this after all. The Dosadi were well known to hold their code of honor above life itself.

"I am Gul Kalekt, Cardassian Union. Are you in a position to negotiate?"

Corin laughed, "Gul Kalekt, no one on this planet is in a position to give you what you want. You will die here. The only question is how many other people will die with you and who they will be. And _how_ you die, of course."

"I will kill this child." He pressed his knife into Ri's throat, making her choke.

"Possibly. And you will die instantly afterward, having accomplished nothing and having dishonored yourself and your family. We are the same, you and I."

"What? How are we the same?"

"I lead Raider Team Six, Gul Kalekt and like you I have led my men on and off of dozens of planets. I've even been on Cardassia Prime twice. I know what it's like to hide for days in the mud and the muck, praying that no one stumbled on you. My team was more fortunate than yours though. Our luck held.

"You and your men fought bravely tonight. With honor. Would you die with your final act being the murder of a child?"

"Then let me leave!"

Corin shook his head. "No one will allow that, Gul Kalekt. Dosadi are used to death. We would mourn her and remember her and you would achieve nothing at all."

"It doesn't look like I'll be able to achieve anything any other way either!"

"I can offer you a death with honor."

He snorted. "I see. I just come out and let you kill me. I'll pass, thank you."

"No, that's not what I meant. I offer you what I would hope for if I were in your position. A warrior's death, and my and my team's bodies being returned home with our story."

Kalekt watched the odd looking Dosadi. "You would send us home?"

"Yes. Not your equipment, of course. But you and your men's bodies will be returned to your people, with honor and with the story of how you died. I know what happens to teams that don't come home, Gul Kalekt. The mission status board gets marked 'Overdue', and after a while, some clerk comes along and erases their line and moves their records into a 'deceased' file. And no one really knows what happened.

"Come out, and you and I will fight, man to man. If you kill me, there will be others until you are finally slain. But you will have died fighting _warriors_. Not children. You will have killed, or at least tried to kill, your nation's enemies. You will die with honor. But make no mistake, you will die tonight, Gul Kalekt. But _how_ you die is entirely up to you."

The rain that had been threatening all night finally started down. Corin didn't appear to notice at all while he waited for the Cardassian's answer.

Kalekt was holding the little girl tightly, his heavy, curved knife pressing against her throat. She had given up struggling. Again, his mind recalled the image of his own child. The thought that he would never see her again was terrible. Would it be better if she at least knew what had happened to her father? He looked out at the Dosadi standing patiently in the rain. What would he do were their positions reversed? If some alien raider were holding his daughter with a knife to her throat, and no way out. He wondered if that man out there had children. Probably not or he wouldn't be so calm. Were someone holding _his_ daughter hostage, he would be enraged.

He studied Corin again. He was smaller, but held himself with the confidence of someone who was as well trained as Kalekt was. Shorter, less reach. He thought he could take him. He looked down at the child again. It hadn't really been good odds that this would work anyway. He called out the door, "I have your word on this?"

Corin answered back. "Yes."

"How do I know the others will do as you say?"

Corin snorted. "No one would break my word for me. But, I will order it right now that if you come out and fight with honor, that you will face us one on one until you die and then your and your men's bodies will be returned to your people along with the story of what happened."

Gul Kalekt stood up and set Ri down. She instantly ran out the door and wrapped her arms around Corin's leg. He walked into the bright rain-splattered glare of the well-lit path and faced him. "She is _your_ child?"

He put his hand on her head. "Yes."

The two officers looked each other in the eyes for a long time while the rain came down. Kalekt nodded finally and said, "We might have been friends, you and I."

Corin smiled. "I think so. I wonder how many times throughout the galaxy men like us have met like this and realized we have more in common then not?"

"I have a letter - on my honor it is only a letter - to my wife and daughter. You will see it delivered?"

"The contents, yes. I swear it. Give it to that man there – he is in command of this situation." He peeled Ri off his leg and pushed her towards Wilkes.

"A human?"

Corin grinned, "Don't ask. It's complicated."

The Cardassian tossed a data rod to Wilkes and asked, "Bare hands or knives?"

Nelson was beside himself. He could _retire_ off of the stories he was getting around these people. Entertainments! Books! Articles! All he had to do was survive it all.

Corin said, "Your choice, Gul Kalekt. But here on Dosad, we fight in the nude. No armor, nothing but you and I."

"That's fine, Lieutenant Commander, and I'll choose knives. But I'm wounded – I have a chunk of an arrow stuck in my leg."

"And I'm drunk. It evens out."

Surprised, Kalekt laughed. "I wish we had time for a drink. But I suppose not." He started stripping off his ghillie suit and uniform, exposing nearly as many scars as Corin had.

Corin also got ready to fight, "Someone will raise a glass to you at the next memorial games, Kalekt. You will be remembered, with honor." The two backed away from each other. Corin raised his flat-bladed Dosadi knife to his face in salute, and the Cardassian did the same with his curved blade.

For those of you who are fans of popular entertainments, real knife fights are not like what you see there. Especially between experts. They very rarely last more than a couple minutes and they are always bloody for both participants. They usually come down to luck or a minor mistake.

Corin and Kalekt had closed with each other several times, each leaving bloody slashes down the other. Kalekt was limping on his wounded leg and struggling for footing in the muddy path. Corin's claws were helping with traction, but the Cardassian had reach and strength.

They closed again, locked together for a moment. The watchers struggled to see what had happened as they both staggered, seemingly holding each other up. The Cardassian coughed, bloody foam coming out his mouth. He took a faltering half-step back and brought his right hand up to hold Corin's wrist, the hilt of his knife sticking out of Corin's lower right abdomen. Corin's slim, flat-bladed knife had slid in-between the small bones of Kalekt's blocking hand and into his chest just above his heart.

The Cardassian met the Dosadi's eyes again. He managed a smile and collapsed into the mud. Corin staggered a step away, dropped his own knife and put his hands on the hilt of the blade stuck in his liver.

Soral grabbed his hands, "No, Cap. Leave it be. Sit down, let me fix that. Don't move it. Dammit Cap, take your fucking hands off it." Wilkes and Sooth came over and pulled his arms away while Soral worked on him with his med-kit.

"Thanks. It's right on the artery. Gonna need to be really fast on this. Hey!" He called to the other medic, "Garoth, I need you for a second." The man came over quickly.

Soral moved over to the side a bit more. "I need you to pull that out the way it went in. You're probably gonna nick the artery so he's going to bleed like a stuck teeg, but I'll close it up right away quick. On three...One...Two..Three!"

The man slid the knife out of Corin's gut and a fountain of blood followed the blade out, but Soral deftly used the wound-sealer, closing the gash in the artery, then working backwards through the injury in the liver and out until he was able to pinch the skin together and close it up, leaving yet another livid scar on his commander's body.

"Damn, that _hurt_ Soral." he said.

"Duh. You got stabbed. Cap, one of these days I'm not going to be here and your luck's going to run out." He continued to work on his other wounds. The wound-sealer was a temporary patch, much like stitches. Complete healing took time.

Wilkes and Sooth let go of his arms, sighing with relief and he sat up, rubbing along the wound. "Hey, Earth cats have nine lives and I'm half-Earth, so I get nine lives too. I'm pretty sure I've only used six or seven."

Soral laughed. "Closer to eight, I think."

Corin got slowly to his feet, "How's Yun?" only to have Ri plaster himself onto his leg again, her face buried in the bloody fur.

"Who?"

"The woman you were working on a few minutes ago. The one he stabbed. Is she OK?"

"She's fine. Got hit in the lung. Lost a lot of blood and collapsed the lung so they took her to the medical bay is all. She a friend, Cap?"

"Yeah, I think she is." He looked around, and people were already beginning the cleanup. "I wonder what they were after." he asked.

Soral looked down at the dead Cardassian. "Makes you think, doesn't it? Does it all just come down to luck?"

Corin had no answer for him.


	9. Chapter 8

_**CHAPTER 8**_

"_The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit__.__"  
- Morihei Ueshiba – Earth (Human)_

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MARCH, 2310

Several hours later, Corin knocked softly on the entrance to the medical bay. "May I come in?"

The doctor on-duty said, "Certainly. You don't need to be so quiet – everyone's stable and awake."

He looked across the room. It looked like there were almost a dozen who had been wounded badly enough to be sent to the center. There had been ten who had died and another fifteen who hadn't been wounded severely enough to send in. He saw Yun sitting up, looking slightly shell-shocked.

"How are you doing?" he asked, wishing he hadn't drank quite so much earlier tonight.

She stared at him, "I don't understand any of this. Why?"

"They were doing their jobs." he shrugged. "You just got in the way was all. It's just bad luck." Rileeta was peering around the room, still holding tightly onto his leg. "Ri's OK, as you can see."

"I know. Your father told me. But what were they doing? Why did he try to kill me? I didn't do anything!"

"Dad was here? How come?"

"Your mother and father both were and that other human. They came to see how everyone who was hurt was doing. I'm supposed to go there for dinner tomorrow night. Well, tonight I guess. It's almost morning now."

He shook his head. That had to be mom, trying to hook him up with someone. "Nelson was here? I haven't thought about him in ages. I kinda stuck them with him."

"He was really nice too. He showed me what happened."

"How...oh. Those stupid glasses. Are you sure you're OK? You look a little...off."

She took his hand. "I'm all right. Thanks to you. And Soral. I just don't understand. Why didn't he at least talk to me?"

Corin shook his head. "Yun, it was a battle. He didn't have time to stop and get to know you and explain what he was doing and what he needed. He was trying to get away and we were trying to stop him. You just got in the way. It wasn't your fault, it was just freak chance. Like if a narak came down out of the mountains and attacked you."

"But what did they want?"

"We don't know. But it's not going to be good for us, whatever it was." Her hand felt warm, and soft. "Are you going to be OK? It'll take you a little time to come to terms with it. Kinda like Ri will. But she's tough. Aren't you, kit?"

She nodded and reached her hand up to the red line on his belly, visible under the white of his shirt. "Does it hurt?"

"Not any more. But it sure as h...it sure hurt at the time!"

She looked at Yun. "It hurt a lot, didn't it?"

"I don't remember it, Ri. It felt really hot for a second and then I fainted. I don't remember anything else. Why, sweetie?"

"I thought he was going to kill me. It hurt really bad when they shot me on Eletha. I don't want it to hurt like that any more."

"Someone _shot_ you?!"

"Yun, that was on a miss..."

"Corin saved me then, too. He killed all of them really fast and then he ran with me on his back like forever and we hid in a cave and Trellos was hurt really bad and I helped make a secret radio and they went and spied and he got hurt really bad and and then we got on a ship and flew here!" she finished breathlessly.

Yun looked at Corin. "You do this a lot?"

He laughed, "Not exactly this, no. I don't usually come home from missions with kits."

She leaned back and shut her eyes. "Thank the gods. I don't think I could be your friend if things like this kept happening."

Ri noticed that Corin hadn't let go of Yun's hand yet. "He saved both of us."

Shaking his head he said, "Not really, Ri. Soral saved her, not me. Saved me too."

"Did so."

He rolled his eyes. "Stubborn." He let go of Yun's hand. "You're really going to be at mom and dad's tomorrow night?"

"Yes. Your mom said she'd introduce me to your sister. I've got a lot of her performances."

"So you said." he thought for a moment. "Maybe we'll swing by. Rest up so they'll let you out of here. I _hate _being in these places." Taking Ri's hand in his, he led her out, although Ri was looking over her shoulder at Yun who gave her a wink.

When they returned home from their morning workout the next day, Relan was outside again, this time with his own young kit. A little male perhaps a year older than Rileeta. Corin tried to remember if he'd ever seen this man out and about this early in the years he'd been living here and he honestly had no idea.

"Good morning, Corin!"

"Morning, Relan."

"I was hoping to run into you today. I heard about what happened last night at the games."

Corin was horrified – he had hoped that his shame would go mostly unnoticed. "Uh..."

"Everyone's talking about it. The way you stepped up and killed that bastard, man to man. I got to brag a little since you're my neighbor and all. "

"Oh, uh. Um, thank you. A bad night all around."

"Yeah. Anyway, I know your little one hasn't met much of anyone yet and I wanted to introduce my son – let them get to know each other a bit." His son was standing by his side, looking curiously at Rileeta who was half-hiding behind Corin. "This is Lorac."

Corin had no idea what to do. Fortunately, the little boy said, "Hello."

Rileeta said, shyly, "Hi. I'm Rileeta."

Relan told his son, "Why don't you two go play for a little bit while Corin and I talk?"

"OK." the boy allowed, and Corin gave Rileeta a gentle push forward.

They walked a very short distance away and Corin heard him ask, "Why is your fur that color?"

Corin asked Relan, "Sorry if I'm a little clueless. I don't really have any experience around kits."

Ri answered Lorac, "I dunno. It just is. Why do your ears look funny?"

"My ears don't look funny!"

Relan was ignoring the two kits, "No one does until they have one, Corin. They're pretty easy to take care of when you get right down to it."

Lorac was continuing, "I bet you're just dirty."

"Am not!"

Corin wasn't sure which one went after the other, but they were rolling around on the ground growling and hissing. "Uh...They're..."

"Don't worry about it. They'll work it out. You said she was only going to stay a little while?"

"You sure? Ah, yeah, I guess. We're gonna see how it works out I guess."

"Well, she sure seems to be settling in." There was a loud yowl and Relan quickly stepped over to the two of them and lifted them both up by the scruffs of their necks, one kit in each hand. "What was that?"

"SHE BIT ME!"

"HE PULLED MY EAR!"

Glaring at the two of them he pronounced, "Then you _both _need to apologize, right now."

They both looked down at the ground, their feet dangling a few inches above it. Rileeta finally said, "I'm sorry I bit you."

He answered, "I'm sorry I pulled your ear."

Relan said, "That's better. Now go play and stop making so much noise." and he set them down. They wandered off towards the house.

The last thing Corin heard from them was Lorac saying "It is pretty cool that your fur's that color. I never seen anyone that color before."

He asked Relan, "That's _normal?_"

Laughing, "Yeah. You'll learn." And then, "I mean, you know, if she stays with you. I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything."

Corin shook his head, "No, I appreciate the advice. I think she'll get tired of me pretty quickly. I have to work a lot. She's gonna get bored sitting around watching me all day."

His neighbor cocked his head at him. "You're gonna teach her at home?"

"Do what?"

"School? You know, reading, writing, math, history, music...that sort of thing?'

Dumbfounded, Corin said, "I have no idea. I didn't even think about it."

Relan laughed "You really _don't_ have any idea what to do with a kit, do you? I'm sorry and I don't mean to be offensive, but that makes you a lot less scary."

"Scary? I don't try to be scary. I hope I haven't..."

He hastened to make his meaning more clear, "No, that's not what I meant. Um, I know you aren't _trying_ to be scary, but well, you keep to yourself except to run and all anyone really knows about you is that you're a Raider and disappear a lot and usually when you come back you've got more scars. No one _knows_ anything about you. Everyone's wondered about what you do and there's lots of rumors, and that's why you're kinda scary. No one knows what to expect.

"I have to tell you, I'm so glad I got to talk with you a little before last night or I'd probably be afraid to talk to you at all. Everyone heard how you killed that Cardassian in just a few seconds..."

Corin muttered, "He damn near killed _me_ too."

"..and it would just add to the rumors. But now we're sort of getting to know something about you. It helps. You're not just this mystery any more.

"But anyway, if you want, I'll take you to meet Lorac's teacher. I think you'd both like him. He does a lot with books and I know she likes to read. I think she'd learn a lot from him over the years."

"Years?"

Relan laughed again. "Well yeah, Corin. How long were you with _your_ teacher?"

"I just...I hadn't thought that far ahead." And he realized that he hadn't seen, or heard Ri in the last several minutes, which was probably the longest time she'd been out of his sight in days, excepting last night.

"Relax. They're just off playing somewhere. They'll be fine."

He shook his head, he had a lot to learn if he was going to keep taking care of her.

"I'll tell you what, we're out at the games tonight, but if you want to come over tomorrow night we're having a bunch of friends over for supper. They've all got kits about the same age as ours, might be good for her. And we can maybe give you some idea of what to expect."

He realized that this was the first time someone who wasn't in his team or his family had invited him to their home in very many years. Had he really been that isolated from everyone? He was just busy wasn't he? And did he really want to take all this on? He thought of all the things he had gone through in his own childhood and all the difficulties he had put his parents through. Could he even do that? How had they managed to raise four kits and manage their Starfleet and Marine careers?

Relan watched Corin's face while he thought. "Kinda awesome when you think through it, isn't it?" Corin looked up at him and he continued, "It's not as scary as it seems. It's actually a lot of fun. So we'll see you tomorrow night, right? " He gave Corin a wave and turned to go back into his home.

After a few moments, Corin continued on to his own house. But part of his mind was still wondering where Ri had gone and if she was OK.

The sun had already gone down when she came back. He was very proud of himself for not going looking for her. "Did you have fun?" he asked.

Her face broke into a thousand-watt smile, "Yes! I like Lorac. He knows S'eeth too, and I got to eat lunch with them and ..." he listened to her tell the story of her day in warp-speed sentences with barely a pause for breath.

And he had no real understanding as to why he enjoyed listening to such pointless prattle.

When they arrived at Wilkes' and Sooth's home, Ri had decided she was starving to death. They went inside and she immediately scampered towards the smells coming from the kitchen area. He looked at the people gathered there and noticed Yun immediately, looking much better than she had just a few hours ago. He also noticed Nelson and his sister sitting close together studying something on a PADD he was holding. He frowned at that.

Yun giggled and he turned back to her. "What?"

Nelson and Nollos were absorbed in whatever was playing on the PADD. She glanced at them and she said, "You are _so_ easy to read."

He sat down by her and asked, "What do you mean, read?"

"Never mind." There was a happy squeal from the kitchen and Wilkes came in a moment later with Ri slung over his shoulder like he was bringing back a haunch of deer.

"I've got dinner here, we just need to cook it up!" She squealed again and kicked to get free. "Ahhh! It needs more preparing! Back to the kitchen with it!" and he trotted off, bouncing the kit up and down on his shoulder.

Yun said, "You've got a nice family, Corin."

"There are days I think they're all crazier than I am."

"That's what I said." she agreed, smugly.

He rolled his eyes. "What are those two working on? I think that's the first time I've seen him with those damn sensor-glasses off."

"I'm not sure. They're making something. They keep talking about samples and clips and cuts and fades and beats. I'm not sure it's any language a universal translator can make understandable to normal people."

"Hey. Nelson."

The man looked up. "Oh, hi Corin. Sorry, we're kinda occupied here."

"Where have you been? You been staying out of trouble? Just because I haven't been..."

Wilkes came back in and interrupted. "Son, you can mind your own business on that."

Surprised Corin looked up at his father, "I thought that _was_ my business."

"Nope. Not any more."

"And why is that?"

"You'll be told when you need to know."

"Oh, come _on_ Dad. That's the oldest dodge in the book."

"Suck it, son. I outrank you, _and_ I'm your father."

Nelson had a huge smile on his face. "Thank you, sir."

"No worries, Nelson. You keep doing what you're doing, Corin's going to have plenty to keep _him_ occupied here shortly as well."

"Oh?" Corin asked.

"You report to Captain Vanos tomorrow at noon, son. Things are heating up faster than we wanted."

"Ahh. Yeah, I thought they might."

"Enough with the shop talk." Sooth came in with Ri helping to haul food in.

Sooth explained, "We wanted to meet your friend. She tells us she just moved here."

He looked at Yun with a long-suffering expression and she winked back at him. "So I understand it, Mother."

"Oh don't be so prickly."

When supper had finished, Yun had learned quite a lot more about Corin and his family and he had learned very little about her. He let his thoughts wander back over the supper as they walked in the late-night mist. He found that he had enjoyed himself a lot. Nollos, and surprisingly, Nelson, had taught Ri a new song and helped her sing it with a pure, clear voice. The conversations had been fun, with lots of funny family stories being shared including a few about his parents that he had never heard. Nelson and Nollos had both been making notes on his PADD.

That was something he was getting concerned about. When had Nelson met her? They had barely been on Dosad a month and a half. But when they were getting ready to leave, the two of them had exchanged a hug – something that surprised Yun as Dosadi didn't 'hug'. Their shoulders were arranged slightly differently. It was, on this planet, a gesture unique to his family. Nollos was a little flaky and he worried that the reporter was going to take advantage of that to worm away confidences. Not that it mattered, he wouldn't dare report anything that he didn't...

Yun interrupted his thoughts. "Hey! You awake in there?"

"Sorry." he said, chagrined. When had he taken her hand?

Ri almost bumped into him. "I'm tired." She was rubbing her eyes.

He was about to suggest that she burn through it by walking faster, but remembered late night walks with his parents. How often had Wilkes or Sooth carried at least one of them home? He bent down and picked the little kit up and put her on his shoulder. She promptly fell asleep.

Yun watched him get the girl settled. "You're doing pretty well for someone who doesn't know what they're doing, Corin."

He shook his head, "My neighbor's been telling me everything I'm doing wrong. I'm not sure I'm cut out for this at all."

They walked along in silence for a little while. "Is it hard, living with what you do?"

He winced. "Sometimes. But it needs to be done."

"I never used to think so." she looked down while they walked. "I still think if people could just talk to each other, things like that wouldn't have to happen. Nelson showed me what you and that man who stabbed me said to each other. You _liked_ each other. And you had to fight until one of you died."

"We were a lot alike. We did the same job, just for different sides. There wasn't anything personal in it. Just business. I'm sorry you and Ri got caught up in it."

"I wish there didn't have to be different sides. So many people get 'caught up in it' who don't want anything to do with 'it'. They just want to live their lives."

Corin sighed. "That is 'it', Yun. People need to be fed, and they need energy and room to grow and all the things that go into living in our galaxy. There are sick peoples out there too, who want to prey on everyone else and decent people need to be protected from those people. Which takes more energy and food and materials. And there's only so much that can go around. As long as there's any difference in what one group has from another or how one group wants to live compared to another, there's going to be a need for people like me. That will only stop when everyone is exactly the same and living in exactly the same situation as everyone else. And I think that would be more horrifying than the occasional conflict. That sort of terrible universal sameness – I can't imagine anything worse."

She let the matter drop. "I'm glad there are people like you, Corin. You're different than anyone I've ever met. But you've got horrible things inside you and I think you could so easily become someone...terrible and cruel and cold and that scares me."

He looked sideways at her, but wisely said nothing.

"I heard what happened, Corin, before you came and saved us."

He hung his head.

"That's the part of you that's frightening. You like hurting and you like what you do too much. I think it's getting hard for you to tell when you're supposed to hurt and when you're supposed to protect."

His throat closed up and he blinked hard.

"You're so close to that line, aren't you? What is there keeping you from...becoming what you are supposed to protect us from? Is that why you're so afraid of Ri? Are you afraid you've already gone too far past that line?"

"I don't know." he said, honestly.

Neither said anything a while longer.

"For what it's worth, Corin, I don't think you've gone too far, yet. I think there's a chance for you. You did the right thing with Uthin."

"Who?"

She grinned at him. "That poor little man you challenged? He's my neighbor. I heard the whole story this afternoon."

"Oh, what the _fuck._"

She laughed. "It's hard to admit you're wrong, Corin. But you did. And he feels better about himself than I think he ever has. His mate thinks he's a hero, his friends are amazed, and his kits think he's one of the gods themselves."

"He has kits?"

"You didn't know? He said they were right by his mate. Didn't you see them?"

"No. I had no idea. I...I was pretty drunk."

"Yeah. I noticed. But you did the right thing, Corin. In the end."

They came to Corin's door and he paused. "Yun...Would you want to stay with us tonight?"

She studied him in the dim light of the stars. The moon had long ago set, and Ri's black form, asleep over his shoulder was an indistinct blob. "That was hard for you, wasn't it?"

He half-laughed. "Yeah. That obvious, was it?"

"A little." she watched his face for a moment more. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'd like you to stay. And I think Ri would love it."

She nodded. "Okay. I'm a little nervous too, Corin. I'm not sure how much I trust you, yet."

There were still a couple hours left before dawn when he startled himself awake. Yun was spooned up against his belly and Ri was a little puddle of black fur snuggled up to her. For a moment he was terrified that he had struck out in his sleep, but the soft breathing sounds coming from both of them made it plain they were both still sleeping. There was a faint scent of cinnamon coming from Yun's fur and he tried to think how long it had been since he had shared a sleeping spot with a friend like this.

Did he really want to keep going down this path? But she was right. The direction he _was_ going was...frightening. That was what his team had been telling him when they left Antica. But it was much easier to keep doing what he knew, what he loved, what was _useful_ than it was to try to turn back and be something he wasn't. Why did these two give a crap what he did? He wasn't that loveable. Did they feel obligated? Or were they just...attracted to the fact that he could protect them? Maybe they really did care? That was hard for him to believe.

He closed his eyes and listened to them sleep. In the silence, he could barely hear Yun's heart beating and he fell deeply asleep listening to it.

IMPERIAL TRAINING GROUNDS, T'ELESH DISTRICT, DOSAD

APRIL, 2310

Nelson hurt more than he ever had. Every square inch of him was sore. He was soaking wet, covered in filth and bruised from head to toe. The ruck on his back was cutting through his shoulders to his navel, and the floppy bush hat on his head seemed to be doing more to keep bugs on his face than to keep the sun off it. You would think that after six weeks of this sort of training, it would be easier.

He ran, and an automatic weapon opened up somewhere in front of him, splattering the mud nearby. He dove into a hollow behind a rock, the standing water sheeting up around him. The squad that was with him engaged the crew manning the weapon and he got back to his feet, running after them, trying to wipe the mud off his sensor-glasses as he ran.

They reached the squat building that was their target and he bent over with his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. An old Dosadi force leader, missing an eye and one arm stopped the timer on his PADD and looked at them.

He spoke quietly, almost cheerfully. "Well. I guess that wasn't too bad if you wanted to make a career out of one assault. I would have thought though, that since you've already done this twice today that you'd be a little bit faster than that. It's not like we move the strong points around...much. It's not even eight kilometers from start to finish so I'm not quite sure where you're having all this difficulty.

"In any case, I have faith in you despite all evidence to the contrary. Do it again! Perhaps if you hike back to the start this time instead of getting a ride you'll be more familiar with the route..."

Nelson straightened up, exhausted and frustrated and said "FUCK me!"

The old Dosadi looked at him, "I don't think you'd enjoy it nearly as much as I would Nelson. Perhaps if you don't live up to my expectations this next run, I'll take you up on that suggestion. It may motivate you."

His squad grabbed him and began hustling back towards the start of the exercise before he could get himself in any more trouble.

IMPERIAL NAVAL HEADQUARTERS, T'ELESH, DOSAD

APRIL, 2310

Corin and his team were being briefed by their Battleforce commander, Captain Vanos. "From the pieces of their equipment we recovered, we believe they were monitoring several communications and headquarters facilities. But we have no idea what they managed to capture, or what they managed to send back to Cardassia. And that's the problem.

"If they know what we've got planned, we're seriously screwed. Which means we're going to have to go now, with what we've got instead of waiting for the main fleet elements to arrive.

"Eletha has become our only source of dilithium. Without it, we are seriously fucked as a culture. Further, the Cardassian's evidently knew just when to hit us. Our fleet is scattered across the Imperium. If we don't restore Eletha within about six months we will essentially be defenseless."

Corin asked, "What do we even have here?"

Vanos sighed. "Not a lot. We've got three old _Thorin_-class assault carriers, with no fighters and no crew, a half dozen _Cosad_-class corvettes, a pair of old _Dorsai-_class battleships, perhaps twenty destroyers...All told, we've got about 70 combat vessels, a couple dozen assault transports and about 45,000 Imperial Marines."

"Most of those ships are going to be broken down for parts, sir. They've got more than three _times_ that many front-line combatants. And what good are carriers with no fighters?"

"WE don't have any fighters. The Federation is loaning us a full Wing of their latest _Nighthawk_ fighters. That's 54 seriously nasty birds. We're going to double load the assault carriers since we don't have enough crews or logistics support for them to reload. And when _aren't_ the Dosadi outnumbered, Commander? We win anyway. The rest of it isn't your concern."

Corin shook his head. "And what's our role? Do we get to do a single-handed assault on Cardassia Prime and capture it?"

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Commander. Your team has been selected for a special assignment. You will do a wing-suit assault on the air defense sector command that you scouted in Korel on Eletha. You will destroy or disable it and retreat into a blocking position, here, and hold that position until relieved."

"Oh, is _that _all!"

"No, Commander, that is not all. You will have an embed."

"A what?"

"The Emperor has decided that it is vital that we tell the story of Eletha to the galaxy. The Cardassians have been pushing the story that Eletha has been historically part of the Cardassian Union and that the Dosadi are squatters. They also maintain that they have not harmed any of our colonists except in self-defense and that they are welcome to continue to live there as citizens of the Union.

"We need Federation help. We need the political backing of other friendly powers; our forces are badly over-stretched at this moment. We need all the friends we can get. We need to show our best face in this fight; You've already taken the lead on that with the information you brought back and the reporter as well."

"Oh no, sir, you do _not _mean..."

but the Captain was still talking, "He is creating a broadcast for us made up of the information he and your team brought back. We will set the stage with that. When the battle begins, the reporter will be given a live data feed, it will be run through a SWACS that will act as a production center, adjusting which feeds are going out at any given time and providing commentary, maps, and so on. He will drop in with your unit and accompany you throughout the battle, under your orders. But Commander, you are to understand he is a neutral, a non-combatant, and you may _not_ control what he sees, hears, or records."

"You have _got_ to be shitting me, sir! He can't do a space dive he's..."

"He's been fully qualified on wing-suits, Commander."

Corin and his team were just staring at the captain. "You want us to do a combat drop, assault a heavily defended position, and then hold a road-block with a reporter watching our every move and broadcasting it live to the galaxy? Are you insane?"

"Watch your tone, Lieutenant Commander. This has been decided and approved by the Emperor and his staff. You're not being given an option. You are expected to succeed, and to show the very best of our people and our military in the process. We need this, Commander. We need Eletha. And we need our friends to have our back while we get our shit together. The entire Imperium is at risk.

"There is one other thing, Commander. You are to consider the reporter, Nelson, to be a mission-essential asset."

Corin shook his head slowly. Trion looked like she had found a turd in her drink and the rest of the team had the hollow look of someone who's been given a death-sentence. "And when do we get to go on this special assignment, sir?"

"At least a week unless something else horrible happens, but very soon. You will remain ready to go with no more than an hour's notice in any case. Are we clear on this Lieutenant Commander?"

"Yes, sir. We are, sir."

"Dismissed."

As they walked away from the briefing room, Ason said "This is some serious bullshit. I'm getting right pissed off about this crap." And then groaned as he realized that his anger had set himself up again.

"Well, better than being pissed _on_, isn't it, Ason?" Veth, Soral, and Trellos said in unison.

Completing the joke, Trion said, "And he would know!"

He flipped them the bird, an Earth gesture the team had adopted from Corin, and said, "Hate you all." with a smile.

That same day, older veterans across Dosad began to find that there was still some hope for a warrior's death. Men and women who had resigned themselves to a secondary role, at best, in their society began to walk with a new spring in their step and then quietly vanished from their communities.

Scrap yards were harvested, storage depots emptied and traders found their shelves emptied of food.

Their week long mobilization-warning was nearly up and Corin was struggling with what to tell Yun and Ri. She had spent most of the intervening nights with them; He missed her when she wasn't there. She was supposed to be over again tonight; He would tell them both and they'd figure out what to do with Rileeta.

When she did arrive, she had a large package with her. Ri was on fire with curiosity. "What's that? Is that for me? What is it?" Her nose was working overtime, but telling her nothing.

"No, Ri, well, sort of. It's for you both. It's something special."

Corin looked at her, "A present? Why?"

She laughed, "Because I like to give special presents to special people." She bit her lip. "This is really special to me, Corin. I want it to be special to you, too."

She tore the covering off of the package and held it up. Corin gasped in surprise. It was a large, framed glass-painting. A Dosadi longship cutting through the waves under a pale blue sky with a few scattered cotton-candy clouds under the yellow-white Dosadi sun. The tints within the glass were subtle and there was a faint ripple to the glass in places, making the waves and her emerald sail appear to move with the slightest motion of the viewer's head or eyes.

Smiling with pride, Yun said, "There's more. Here." She touched the side of the frame and the entire scene came alive with light, making subtle textures in the wooden hull and mast visible as well as adding depth to the spray from her bow.

"I've never seen..."

"There's more." She touched the frame again and the frame light extinguished. "Turn off the light panels, please, Ri."

The little girl jumped up and touched the wall control and the room went dark, except for the faint, phosphorescent glow of the glass-painting. The amount of light was just enough to make the scene visible to Dosadi night-vision and added a ghostly quality to the image, as though it were floating in mid-air, not entirely real.

"Wow." was all Corin could manage.

"Okay, Ri." Yun said and the little girl turned the lights back on.

Corin was hypnotized by the painting. "I think that is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life."

"It was the last piece he ever did. I think it's his best." She ran her finger down the smooth, cool glass. "Where should I hang it?"

"I can't accept that!"

"Why not? It's mine to give. He made it for me." She stood up and looked at the walls. "Corin, you've got hangars right here for it. I bet you've never even looked at your own walls." She tested the solidity of each hook and then placed her painting on his wall.

Ri clapped delightedly "It's beautiful!"

"Yun...It's a loan, all right? Whenever you want it back...it's yours. I can't take that."

She rubbed her tail under his chin. "Corin, I need to let him go. You're helping me with that, more than you know, I think. And I think you need more beauty in your life and less...well, less blood and death."

He stood up and wrapped her in a hug, letting her figure out how to place her arms with her different shoulder structure. Ri ran over and wormed her way in-between them both. "Are we a family now?" she asked suspiciously.

Corin looked at her. The tone of her question didn't fit the words. "I don't know what we are, Ri. We're...well, we're something. Not a family, I don't think. But something more than just three people."

"Good." she said, satisfied. "My families always die."

Corin was shocked. Yun said, "Oh, Ri, that's horrible! No one's going to die."

He knelt down and looked her in the face. "Ri, no matter what there will always be someone to care for you and love you, OK?"

Yun caught his tone immediately. "Wait. Corin...What are you saying?"

He looked up, "Yun, there's a mission coming up very soon. I have to go."

Ri looked at him, her eyes wide. "I don't want you to go. I don't want you to leave. You have to take care of me!"

"I'm a Soldier. This is what I do. I go on missions, and then I come home again."

Yun looked disgusted. "Why do they keep sending _you_? You haven't even finished healing from the last batch of wounds. I've seen you run, Corin. I know what's happening to your knees. Is the galaxy going to fall apart if you're not there to save it?"

Ri turned away from him and buried her face in Yun's thigh, snuffling loudly. She patted her on the back. "You can't say no?"

He shook his head. "Our team's got a very particular assignment. We're..." he tried to think how to tell them without saying things that he shouldn't. "Everyone will be depending upon us."

She was angry. He could smell it. Ri was in tears. "This isn't fair guys. You know this is who I am, what I do, this shouldn't be a surprise."

Yun wiped her hand across her eyes. "Tell me you're going to come back. Tell me you're not going to end up like that Cardassian or just disappearing and nobody knows what happened to you. Promise me."

He hung his head. "I can't promise that, Yun."

"Then at least promise me you're going to fucking _try_ to come home. You can promise _that_ can't you?"

That even surprised Rileeta. But after a second she sided with the older woman, glaring at Corin. She hissed, "Yeah, promise!"

"I promise you both I'll do my best to come home, all right?" he reached up for Yun and she pushed his hand away.

"Don't. Just...Not...Give me a minute, OK?"

"Sure. I'll go get some food."

That night after Ri had fallen asleep he picked her up and took her to a smaller sleeping spot so that he and Yun could have a bit more privacy. He came back to his favorite spot and curled up next to her. She was still quite obviously upset. He put his hand on her shoulder, "Yun? It's not fair being mad at me. You've always known I'd go on another mission."

"But not so damn soon. Don't they give you time to heal between them? Time to live before you have to go out and kill and get shot up and broken again?"

He pulled her close. "When they can. They can't this time. It's bad, Yun. They haven't told people what's going on, but someone screwed up and we got caught...Well, we're really in a bad place is all I can say."

"Then that means they're desperate, and that means that they're going to take a huge chance and that means they're sending _you_ into something no one with any sense would ever do." She turned over so she was facing him. "Corin, you are nothing like anyone I've ever even liked before. I don't know _why_ I like you, but I do. Maybe it's because there's still something left inside of you that can rescue a poor little girl and let her wrap you around her little finger. Whatever it is, I don't want to watch that die, and I don't want it to just disappear into space. I want to see where we're going to go, together or apart or whatever happens to us. But I want there to at least _be_ an us.

"I know your type, Corin. You'd throw your life away in a second if it meant saving someone else. Will you, _please_ remember that there are people who love you and care about you and want you to come home?"

He stroked her face, "I'll remember _you_ want me to come home, at least."

She scowled and turned over again. For a while, he didn't say anything, cuddling up to her and trying to soothe her without really starting back on difficult topics. After a while he nuzzled the back of her neck, softly.

"Corin, stop that."

"Not really the right mood, is it?" he grinned.

She turned over again. "It's not that. Well, I haven't been with anyone since my mate died, so that's part of it, but Corin..." her expression hardened. "I'm not sure I trust you enough to get that close to you. That means more to me than most people, I don't think I could bear being that close and then having you just...vanish." She shook her head and watched his eyes in the dim light. Then she turned over again.

He curled up against her again, looking at the faint glow of the glass-painting over her arm.

"Corin?"

"Hmmm?"

"Maybe...if you come home."

He squeezed her tightly.

As expected, he awoke a few hours later when Ri wormed her way back in-between them both. He leaned down and softly kissed her cheek, and fell asleep watching the longship faintly glowing in mid air.


	10. Chapter 9

_**CHAPTER 9**_

"_Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter. _

_- Winston Churchill – Earth (Human)_

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT CARRIER ISS DELOS, IN ORBIT OVER DOSAD

MAY, 2310

Wilkes saluted as Admiral Nolin walked into Engineering. "Good morning, sir!" The man was _old_ – over 90. But despite an entirely grey face and missing teeth, he still had a powerful personality. He studied Wilkes.

"Wilkes. Can you get this old girl to fight again?"

He smiled, "Yes, sir. I pretty much started my career on her, it seems only fitting that I'd finish up with her too. And this is better than seeing her broken down for parts."

The old cat gripped his shoulder. "I remember first meeting you. Always knew there was something special about you. It's always better to go and meet Loreth rather than making her come to you." They walked down the lines of engineers. Most were either still in training or long since retired with a scattering of serving NCO's stiffening their ranks. But there would be no families aboard any of the assault fleet this time.

"What's our overall status?" the admiral asked.

"Well, we're a little short on dilithium but we've got enough to get there and fight like hell for a while, at least. We've got a full load of the old Countach anti-ship and Lynx anti-fighter drones, and a full load out of photon torpedoes. The new fighters don't fit in our launch tubes, so we're flying them straight off the decks. We can charge them, but we've got no facilities for handling or storing the Federation's new Avenger or Dart missiles so they get what they're loaded with and that's it. They can generate their own Hellraisers though."

"What's a Hellraiser?" he asked.

"A sort of mini-photon torpedo. Warhead yield is in between a Dart and an Avenger, but they can keep shooting them like a phaser as long as they've got charge. And the _Nighthawk's_ carry a lot more charge than our old _Tomcats_ did.

"We'll be short on food and most of the crew facilities aren't working any more. But we don't have a full crew anyway, so that's not that big of a deal. It's pretty much a one way trip, sir."

Nolin grinned at the younger, old man. "But what a story we'll make, Wilkes!"

"Speaking of which, sir, Nollos wants you to use this for your pre-battle speech."

"I don't _always_ do that, Wilkes."

"Sir, you've done that before every fight I've ever been in with you." he laughed.

Nolin glowered at him with a wink, "So what is it?"

"It's a speech some general gave before a battle in ancient Earth history. She said it'll push a lot of buttons with a lot of the races in the Federation and the Klingons will love it. I guess the general was really outnumbered and was supposed to lose, but won anyway."

"She wants you to time it so that you're starting that five minutes before we drop out of warp."

Nolin studied the paper. "This is Shakespeare, Wilkes."

"Oh. I thought it was something historical."

"You're from Earth and you don't know Shakespeare? This is one of his greatest works."

Wilkes laughed, "I didn't spend much time reading old plays, sir."

He looked at his Chief Engineer and shook his head. He sighed and admitted, "This is going to be a disaster for your family, Wilkes."

"Maybe, sir. But it's who we are."

Nolin gripped his arm. "I won't waste them, Wilkes. But I may have to spend them."

He nodded. "I understand. Honor above all, sir."

The old cat's eyes lit up and for just a moment, Wilkes saw his commander as he was in his prime. "Honor above all, Wilkes." and he turned and strode out of the Engineering spaces.

"I might be in my sixties, but I still remember my way around this old boat!" Corin thought as he walked into the old east living pod. There were people putting gear down and trying to make the space as livable as possible. A lot of them were just kits, he thought. He let his eyes track through the large space. The plants had long since died and a lot of the ceiling panels no longer worked, leaving dropouts in the blue 'sky'. There were a fair number of old _Delos _hands here, helping the kits figure out what to do. He wondered how many of the young ones had even been in space before.

There were nowhere near as many as there should be to give the _Delos_ a full crew, but they had enough he thought. He moved towards a knot of kits who were supposed to be his deck crewmen and began getting them squared away.

Eletha ran her hand down the edge of her old console in the _Delos' _disruptor targeting section. Power began to flood the various stations and she could hear the equipment spinning up. There was a young trainee standing behind her who said, "It looks a lot different than what we trained on."

She grinned at the other veteran sitting at the console to her right. "Well, this takes more skill than that newfangled crap they've got you playing with now." She stood up, "Have a seat and I'll run you through the differences. You've got about two weeks to learn how to shoot straight and as long as I'm in command of this section, you_ will_ shoot straight."

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT TRANSPORT ISS K'PATH, IN ORBIT OVER DOSAD

MAY, 2310

Imperial Marine Crewman Arlos leaned over and whispered to his friend. "Where did they find that old fossil?"

His friend watched the old Storm Leader in her heavy battle armor inspecting the other Marines two ranks in front of her. "I dunno. And what's with that pink heart on her helmet?"

The elderly man to her right elbowed her into silence as Sooth continued her inspection of the troops who would be leading the assault into Eletha. When she had finished her inspection she moved back to her center position and a very old Commander limped in. She saluted and said, "I think we're ready, sir."

He scanned over the assembled troops. "How many of you haven't even finished your training yet?"

About half of the hands went up.

"And how many of you haven't been in armor for over a decade?"

About a third of the rest of the hands went up.

"And how many of you think this is the most fucked up, idiotic, stupid operation ever conceived by any military planner ever?"

There was some laughter and all the hands went up.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why it's going to work." He began limping down the front rank. "The Cardassians aren't going to be expecting anything like this. Everything about this plan goes against common sense, good military planning, and plain old _decency_!" Another set of chuckles.

"We are going to hit those bastards with a level of violence unseen since the dawn of history. The speed and raw _power_ of our attack will confuse them, confound them and seriously _fuck them UP!"_ There were some ragged cheers.

"No matter what you think of your training, your skills, or your physical ability, what will carry you through this fight is _courage_. No matter what happens I want you to think ATTACK! Your every thought must be on taking the fight _to_ them, _through_ them, and _over_ them. If you stop, I want it only to be long enough to pull out their bloody fucking _guts_ and carry them forward like a banner!"

He returned to his position at the head of his formation. "Give up on thoughts of going home. They will keep you from reaching it. Let the Cardassians spend their time wishing they were going to go home. You spend your time making sure they DON'T go home and at the end of the day, YOU will be."

He let his eyes scan across the collection of Marines assembled in front of him. "Spend the next two weeks well. When we get to Eletha, I want you moving so fast in your excitement to get at those bastards, you run me right the hell over. DISMISSED!"

As the troops filed out he turned to his senior NCO. "How many of them do you think will make it home, Sooth?"

She watched them walking out. "If Admiral Nolin's plan goes well and the orbital battle goes well and we get some air support, maybe half. Mostly the younger ones."

"And if it doesn't go well upstairs?"

She looked at him and shook her head.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

MAY, 2310

"Sir, " the sensory officer spoke up. " It's evidently time for our daily jammer drop. They're here again."

Legate Dukat sighed. "This is getting tiresome, which I expect is their goal. To leave us off-balance and jumpy. Gul Tennekt, raise the alert level. It makes good drill, I suppose. And launch the fighters to go shoot them down again. At least it makes good target practice for them."

The officer smiled. "Very considerate of the Dosadi to send us live targets and help us to train our ECM crews." he turned to his sensor officer. "How many this time?"

"Looks like six, sir. High orbit this time, even distribution."

"That seems to be one of their favorites. I'll worry when it's something different."

Dukat thought that he should worry about that which he became complacent about. But then, that was the obvious purpose of repeating a pattern – get your enemy used to it so they no longer saw it as a threat. But, the Dosadi never did anything that was expected or obvious, so the Gul was likely correct. Unless _that_ was what they wanted him to think. Surely, that's what their intent was; To have him looking for patterns within patterns. That way lay madness. In any case, their reinforcements were barely two weeks out and all the intelligence they had on Dosadi Fleet movements were that they were still scrambling to try to get a force together.

Impressively, they would be able to bring a sizable fleet from their front-line units to attack him in only five months from when they had taken Eletha – a month sooner than anyone thought was possible. And a month too late to have any chance at all.

FEDERATION INFORMATION NETWORK

MAY, 2310

People across the galaxy had begun watching a series of specials on the fight for the planet of Eletha. The past several days had seen both the Dosadi and the Cardassian sides presented with an even hand by Argus reporter Jonathon Nelson. In truth, most Federation citizens sided with the Dosadi claims – if the planet had ever _been _Cardassian, it was now far removed from their space and the fact that a Dosadi colony had been there for several years lent weight to their claim.

The most recently released presentation had been on a terribly cute little black furred Dosadi child who had been rescued from the Cardassian assault by a battle-scarred old troop that she had become attached to. Intermixed with the interview Nelson had conducted were the sensor-logs from Corin's Raider team and their scouting of Songte and Korel and the many civilian bodies scattered about. Despite Nelson's cautioning that the images presented were solely from the Dosadi point of view and that all evidence pointed to their civilian population defending itself ferociously, those who watched it felt that there was little excuse for elite military forces to be slaughtering civilians.

Throughout the Argus network, no matter what they were viewing, people's data feeds were interrupted with a 'FLASH'. What they saw was a dirty tan planet, the blue tint of it's atmosphere curving off above it and a voice they had become accustomed to:

"This is Jonathon Nelson reporting live for Argus. I have been granted unprecedented access to an active military operation. The Dosadi High Command have allowed me – as a neutral non-combatant - to broadcast live and unedited everything I see while I accompany Raider Team Six as they begin the Battle for Eletha. In seconds we will be diving off of a cloaked, Raider-class starship and falling into the planet as they begin the attack!

"We will be pushing unedited sensor feeds from several Dosadi starships, ground combatants and my own POV cameras...Wait, they're beginning..." Several Dosadi in stiff, pale-blue wing-suits shuffled into view and dove off the edge of the hangar bay. "Oh shit, I hate this!" They saw the view tilt wildly, spin briefly and stabilize as Nelson jumped free from the _Tarak_ and begin his free-fall to the ground, 30 kilometers below.

There was a sudden cut away and they were looking into the face of a very old Dosadi in his puss-in-boots dress uniform. He was looking directly into the camera and spoke clearly despite his age. "My comrades, both new and old, before we enter battle, I wish to repeat to you a speech written by the great Earth playwright, William Shakespeare. King Henry and his men faced impossible odds, and like us, fear gnawed at their hearts as the time approached. And like us, those long ago men hoped to find immortality in memory. And in their courage, and valor, they found it.

"In his fear, one great captain wished for more men to even the odds. This was the King's reply:

_If we are mark'd to die, we are enow  
To do our country loss; and if to live,  
The fewer men, the greater share of honour._

_God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.  
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,  
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;  
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;  
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.  
_

_But if it be a sin to covet honour,  
I am the most offending soul alive._

_No, faith, my cousin, wish not a man from England.  
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour  
As one man more methinks would share from me  
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!_

_Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,  
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,  
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,  
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;  
We would not die in that man's company  
That fears his fellowship to die with us._

_This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.  
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,  
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,  
And rouse him at the name of Crispian._

_He that shall live this day, and see old age,  
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,  
And say "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."  
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,  
And say "These wounds I had on Crispian's day."_

_Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,  
But he'll remember, with advantages,  
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,  
Familiar in his mouth as household words-  
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,  
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-  
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red._

_This story shall the good man teach his son;  
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,  
From this day to the ending of the world,  
But we in it shall be remembered-_

_We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;  
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me  
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,  
This day shall gentle his condition;  
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed  
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,  
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks  
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day._"

He paused. "Honor above all." and the view cut again to a different feed on the _Delos_' bridge, looking forward from above and behind the old admiral. The streaking stars of warp travel suddenly stopped and the screen resolved into a dirty tan planet, terrifyingly close, as alarms began screaming and dozens of Cardassian ships cluttered the image.

"FIRE!"

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

MAY, 2310

"Here we go again, sir." the Galor's sensory officer chuckled. "Shall I launch the fighters?"

Legate Dukat waved his hand at the man. "Yes. Anything unique about it this time?"

"No, sir. As usual, even distribution, six jammers, high-orbit. The fighters will be there in just about 5 minutes."

The communications officer interrupted, "Legate Dukat, we're receiving a hail from the frigate _Kanvek_."

"Are they having sensor troubles again?"

"Apparently, sir."

Dukat sighed. "On screen."

"Sir!" the frigate's commander saluted.

"What is it this time, Gul? More sensor ghosts?"

"Sir, these aren't ghosts. We've cross-checked with the cruiser _Sartan_ and run a diagnostic."

"Well what is it then?"

"We don't know. But we tracked 18 different bird-sized objects suddenly appear on our sensors and fall into the planet's gravity well."

"You're telling me that a flock of birds appeared in space and then flew down into the planet? Any sign of a cloaked vessel? Increase scanning power."

"I don't know what they were, sir. We lost them after a few minutes."

Dukat's ECM officer spoke up, "Sir, this jamming is different. It's not responding to our countermeasures this time."

"They changed it?"

"Yes, sir."

"How long until the fighters engage them?"

"Two minutes, sir."

"Raise the alert..." his order dissolved into a shout as a Dosadi heavy cruiser dropped out of warp directly in front of the _Galor_, diving downward, and immediately began to fire every weapon aboard. In the tightly packed orbits, they could hardly miss.

"SHIELDS! RAISE THE SHIELDS!" he screamed above the explosions wracking the _Galor._ "Evasive action!" collision alarms were sounding throughout the fleet as 70 Dosadi warships dropped out of warp _inside_ the Cardassian formation and instantly opened fire. Several explosions were visible as some of the Dosadi vessels collided with Cardassian starships moments after they appeared, scattering lethal shrapnel throughout the Cardassian fleet.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MAY, 2310

Yun, Ri, Feros, and S'eth were watching the Argus stream on little Rileeta's rescue. Almost every time Ri came on the screen she would squeal and ask again how many people were watching.

Yun said to Feros, "Thank you again for letting us stay with you while they're away doing whatever horrid thing it is that they do. I know Corin had worked out having Ri stay with you, but I don't know what _I_ would have done with myself. I don't have any close friends here yet, other than Corin."

Feros hooked her tail around Yun's, "Our mates may be the part of the team that goes and fights, but we're the part of the team that stays and take care of everything else. We've all found that it's easier to stay in groups. Usually by the time they come back, we've all ended up at each other's place more than once."

"How do you deal with this? They just go...and you never know when or _if_ they are going to come back. Look at those pictures! It's horror after horror and they're surrounded by the enemy! Just like those Cardassians were, I can't believe they don't get caught!"

The younger woman said, "You just have to have faith, Yun. If you're going to go any further with your relationship with Corin, you have to just believe he'll come back. When you start wondering what it is they're doing or what risks they're taking and thinking that they might not come home, it gets to be too much. It's better to not know, usually.

"This is more than I've ever seen about what they really do. They won't talk about it, you know that, right?"

"No, well, I guess I knew Soldiers kept secrets, but they don't even tell _you_ what they do on missions?"

"They don't. You just have to finish patching up all the new holes and let them cuddle their kits and pretend it's normal. And don't mention the nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Doesn't Corin have nightmares when he's at home? He does here, sometimes."

"I don't know, I guess. We haven't spent that many nights together and he doesn't sleep as much as I think he should."

Feros nodded knowingly. "He does, then. You don't need to mention them. Trion's mate says she wakes up screaming a lot. He and their kits just let her get up and walk around until she's ready to go back to bed again."

Yun was appalled. "I don't know if I can do this."

"A lot of people can't. It's..." she sighed. "A lot of days I wonder why I fell in love with Veth. And when he comes home bloody and broken, I hate Corin for taking him into those places over and over again. And then I'm thankful that he almost always brings them home again, and I see S'eth and him playing, or when I hold her, or him...it's worth it."

"_Almost_ always?"

Her expression saddened. "They do lose people sometimes. Corin's team has the lowest fatal-casualty rate of any of the Raider teams though. In fifteen years he's only lost four. It kills him every time. He blames himself no matter what happened."

"Why do they do this? There has to be a better way."

Feros studied her. "Not in this world, Yun. Our people need to defend ourselves from others who want what we have, or who hate us. We need to find and keep resources so that we can live. There is evil and there are those in the same situation that we're in, but who for one reason or another are in competition with us. The teams..."

S'eth interrupted, "Mommy? Isn't that daddy's team? He said number six."

They stopped and watched the holo-display. A group of Dosadi in wing-suits dove out an opening into a field of blue and tan and they heard Nelson's voice say "Oh, shit I hate this!" and dive after them.

Messages started popping up on her PADD almost immediately after that.

IMPERIAL DOSADI RAIDER ISS BALEOS, IN ORBIT OVER ELETHA

MAY, 2310

Nollos sat at a console in the packed shuttlecraft. The SWACS were designed to control hundreds of fighters and seeking weapons and to provide enhanced sensor information to a fleet. This one had been modified to act instead as a production studio able to send tight-beam transmissions to a relay satellite.

With her was a team of four Dosadi specialists and two of her fellow bards. Their job was to weave all of the different sensor threads together to tell a compelling story. According to the Emperor himself, their job was vital to the future of the Imperium. She shook her head. She wasn't military. She was an artist. Yet here she was in charge of six people in a battle. Well, in charge of the story, anyway. The military people made all the other decisions.

She really hoped they were as good as her brother was, because according to the plan, they were going to be just sitting out there all by themselves for about fifteen minutes hoping no one noticed them. The main Argus stream on Rileeta looked _good_ though, she smiled to herself. Nelson was right about her – she was going to break hearts across the galaxy. Well, the Vulcans and the Klingons wouldn't care for her much, but they were freaks anyway.

The driver, or pilot or captain or whatever he was, called back, "EmCon." and she made sure all her transmitters were off. Why did the military have to have code words for everything? Why not just say "Turn it all off!" Her stomach lurched and the shuttlecraft scooted slowly out of the back of the ship, directly over the blindingly white pole of the planet below them. And she started to see Nelson's sensor feed coming across her console. Showtime!

"Okay, get ready to cut in to the main feed – Erelan, cue up the background music for Nolin's speech. They are going to eat this _up_! Get ready to cut to the ships when they show up, we're going to have a lot of feeds, so sing out if something interesting's going on in one. Let's make this a show no one will _ever_ forget."

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT CARRIER ISS DELOS, ARRIVING, ELETHA

MAY, 2310

Heather sat in the cockpit of her _Nighthawk_, waiting for the ship to drop out of warp. They weren't even supposed to wait for a launch order – just go as soon as the big bay doors opened up, and do so as fast as they possibly could. Their only orders: Destroy everything in sight.

Her uncle Corin gave her a snappy salute and she returned it. The ground crews were pulling charging cables and coolant hoses back out of the way, hauling the heavy extensions back into the bays. The fighters were packed nearly on top of each other – the _Delos_ was never designed to launch fighters like this. But here they were. She touched a control on her console and her fighter started broadcasting her favorite battle music.

"Heather, you ever gonna let us have a fight in peace and quiet?" came Paavo's voice followed by Inga's laugh.

"Why Flight Leader Puurunen, you know you would get lonely if you didn't have my music! Whoops – doors coming open, retarders to full, throttles to 10 percent. As soon as you clear the bay, squadron leaders, go for the heavies. Plenty for everybody, so don't get selfish and don't get stupid. Shields and screens to maximum. Weapons free. On my mark, go to full military thrust by squadron, follow me out..." The doors finished opening and she said, "mark, mark, mark!" and her fighter soared out of the _Delos_ into insanity.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MAY, 2310

No one was talking. The images on the screen were coming in rapid fire jump cuts. The exterior shots were the strangest of all since there was absolute silence. Green lines crossing everywhere. The bright white streaks of missiles or disruptors. Burning ships leaving trails of plasma and debris across the black of space and the tan of the planet. Here and there, the ugly red and yellow flowers of death. These scenes were interspersed with images from the bridge of one ship or another, some afire, all involving men and women shouting incomprehensible rapid-fire orders involving courses or speeds or status. But over and over again the word "FIRE!" Once a feed flashed with a hideous reddish-yellow cloud billowing across it to the sounds of screams and then went dark.

Another jump, to a long space filled with the black, angular shapes of Federation fighters, suddenly racing out into space and the screen cut again and this time the image rolled nauseatingly as the fighter maneuvered hard. Neither Yun nor Feros recognized the voice calmly issuing orders, but back on Earth, the Wilkes family did.

So did a respectable number of people across the Federation who were avid followers of Starfleet. More than one drew puzzled stares when they shouted out "The Angel of Orias!"

There was a steady stream of commentary from a male voice, calmly explaining the battle and what could be expected, what weapons were being used and their effects. A banner scrolled around the base of the holo-images reminding viewers that this was live and was taking place on a planet called 'Eletha'. Not many people paid much attention to the voice-over – the images were far too compelling by themselves.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING OVER ELETHA

MAY, 2310

"They're insane!" Legate Dukat screamed as he tried to find some order in the battle that raged around his flagship.

His sensor officer yelled back, "There's too many in too close! I can't track anything there's shit everywhere!" The technical term for it is 'saturation'. It involves throwing so many weapons at a defender that their systems and operators are so overloaded that they are unable to function efficiently. He knew the term, of course. But knowing a term, and knowing what to do about it when it happens to you are two different things.

The ECM officer yelled, "We need to take out those damn jammer pods Where are our fighters?!"

"Call the reinforcements from the Torelli Nebula! Immediately!" How many ships do they have? Where did they come from?"

"I can't tell! They're everywhere! Every time we shoot them we risk hitting our own ships – There's shit blowing up everywhere I can't even tell who's it is!"

"Helm! Get us out of this mess! Raise orbit by 100,000 km!"

His defense operator spun in his chair, "Their fighters – we can't track on them! They aren't where the sensors say they are!"

"What _are_ those?!"

The science officer answered him, "Federation _Nighthawks_, sir. They have a screening system somewhat like a cloak – it doesn't hide it, it just degrades our sensors enough to make a hit much less..." the _Galor_ rocked again from a series of explosions and they saw one of the jet-black fighters flash across her main view screen like a shadow in the dark. "...likely. They also are firing a new torpedo type."

"Where the _hell_ are our reserves?!"

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MAY, 2310

The holo-images changed again, and they were watching a cluster of low buildings come racing up at them. Nelson's voice spoke again, straining with effort, "That...that's our target...They're shooting!" and they watched phasers reaching up, trying to find the descending team.

S'eth and Rileeta were plastered onto the older women, eyes wide.

Feros said, "They can't. They can't show this. They can't."

They watched three of the team hit the ground and engage defenders before they even collapsed their para-wings. Nelson hit the ground with a loud "OOF!" and the view staggered. By the time he was looking towards the building again, they could see all six of the Raiders moving and firing and he was sprinting to catch up.

Something exploded near them and a shower of dirt and debris rained down on Nelson, the image now just dirt for a second, and then back to the team. Veth was bleeding from a tear in his left arm, but he turned to look at Nelson and yelled, "Move!"

S'eth whimpered, "Mommy...Daddy's hurt..."

The view centered on Corin, a bloody gash down his face and most of his right ear missing. His bush hat was gone. "Veth! Blow the damn door!" He raised his plasma rifle and fired two shots at something out of view.

Rileeta whined and gripped Yun harder.

"Right, Cap!"

Yun had her hand over her mouth and was shaking her head back and forth. Nelson was speaking again, in between deep, rapid breaths, "We...we're going to...attack into this...air defense...center...That will allow...The transports and...fighters to..."

"GET CLEAR!" And everyone hit the dirt. Nelson tried to raise his head to get a look at the door but the view filled with Ason's hand and he yelled,

"Keep your head down you fucking moron!" as a roar washed over them all. The view juggled again as Nelson got to his feet, following the sprinting commandos into the Cardassian air defense sector command post. Yun couldn't understand why they weren't all dead a dozen times over as Cardassian troops or technicians would pop up only to be instantly engaged by the smoothly moving group. They looked like they were gliding through the building, their weapons scanning back and forth like machines.

And the view jumped again.

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT TRANSPORT ISS K'PATH, IN ORBIT OVER DOSAD

MAY, 2310

The transports had dropped out of warp almost inside Eletha's atmosphere. They hit at a much higher speed than they were designed to do and their hulls began to overheat. The pilot of the _K'Path_ watched the damage indicators begin to light up and looked at his partner. "Don't think we're going to be taking off again."

"Nope."

The big, boxy ship was leaving a trail like a meteor across the sky. He hoped the Raider teams were on time and on target for taking out the air defenses. They had good shields, but there was only so much they could take.

"Shields, maximum forward." the pilot ordered.

"Got it...Sensor lock. They're tracking us."

"Evasive."

Seconds passed as the battleforce of over 1,000 Imperial Marines rocked back and forth while the ship tried to make itself as difficult a target as possible. The ship lurched as air-defense phasers began to hit her. There were thirty of the big transports dropping out of orbit, but two of them were engaged and destroyed by Cardassian starships, leaving an obscene spray of thousands of fireballs across the sky.

"I don't think the Raiders made it." the pilot commented with all the emotion of a man mentioning that the bus was late.

"Nope."

"Red-light the Marines. They got a better chance out than in."

"Too high, too fast."

"That's why I said red-light, not green. We'll wait as long as we can."

His co-pilot flipped a switch.

Sooth watched the visor on her helmet flash with a red jump-warning indicator. She checked the repeater feed and shook her head. The jump-harness on their battle armor wouldn't get them down from this high and at the speed they were going, they'd be torn apart. She stood up, "On Your FEET!" And began walking down the lines of troops as they stood in formation by the trap doors that would drop them from the transport. She glanced at one young trooper. She checked her visor display. "Arlos, isn't it?"

"Yes, Storm Leader!" he sounded off.

"Ever jump before?"

"No, Storm Leader!"

"Won't be able to say that much longer. Tell you what, you stick by this old fossil and we'll get you home, all right?"

He stiffened to attention.

Sooth laughed, "Even old fossils still have good hearing, Crewman." She clapped him on the shoulder of his blue-grey and tan mottled battle armor. She raised her voice, her suit automatically amplifying her words, "Just keep moving, and keep shooting. Assault THROUGH the objective, do not stop ON it. Destroy it and move into defensive positions. We'll re-group and move on to any other objectives after that. When in doubt, shoot."

She went back to her spot, listening to the transport ring from the ground fire. And then the defenders fell silent.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MAY, 2310

Feros said, "That was Corin's _mother_. She's in her SIXTIES! They can't make her do a combat jump!"

But the view was changing again, back to the battle in orbit.

Yun asked, "Wait...What happened? Wasn't the team supposed to destroy the people shooting at them?"

"I don't know! There's too much going on! I don't know how anyone can keep track of this!" Feros said, frustrated.

The commentator was speaking, "After an initial success, the battle is turning against the Dosadi. Not enough ships, outnumbered more three to one, even with the Federation's loan of a wing of fighters. Casualties are mounting, and there simply aren't enough ships, not enough firepower to deal with the Cardassian fleet."

The holo-image was full of burning, exploding ships. The blue-grey Dosadi ships were dwindling while the gold-colored stingray-shaped Cardassian ships were still everywhere. But there were far fewer big ships than there had been.

Aboard the SWACS, Nollos waved her hand emphatically at the Force Leader providing the commentary.

"We are desperate. We rely on our friends, the one power in the galaxy who can always be counted upon by those in terrible need. Where are our allies? Where is Starfleet?"

The view jumped again to the bridge of the Federation heavy cruiser _USS Excelsior_. The streaking stars stopped again, this time with a view down into the raging battle over Eletha. Captain Crajjik ordered "FIRE!" and the ten ships of the Starfleet task force engaged the Cardassian fleet from behind. More than a few Federation citizens cheered as the view shifted, showing the pearly-white starships riding to the rescue. All that was missing was a bugler blowing charge.

Yun, Feros, and the kits watched nearly two dozen Cardassian starships silently explode, while the remaining Dosadi vessels renewed their attack with a lunatic ferocity.

CARDASSIAN BATTLESHIP GALOR, MANEUVERING OVER ELETHA

MAY, 2310

The defense officer screamed "Federation starships!"

Legate Dukat now understood why his reinforcements hadn't arrived. Somehow the Federation knew of his hidden base in the Torelli Nebula. There was little that could be done now. They were caught between the fires of the Dosadi fleet still rampaging inside his own formations and the Federation starships above them. But, perhaps if he could destroy the Federation vessels, he could still salvage the situation. He opened his mouth to issue his orders and the helmsman shouted,

"Sir! Sir! That ship! It's on a collision course!"

The main view screen shifted and showed a Dosadi assault carrier, shedding pieces from her hull and burning fiercely, accelerating towards him, every weapon still functioning firing directly at him. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. It kept growing larger as collision alarms began to scream.

Gul Tennekt was shouting something at him, not that it mattered. The damn thing was hideous. It was like watching a portal to hell opening in front of him. And the stars shifted into a blur as Tennekt ordered the _Galor_ into an emergency warp jump, out of the fight and racing away from Eletha as fast as the badly damaged battleship could go. It would be many minutes before they could get any response out of Dukat, his eyes still locked on the empty screen.

IMPERIAL DOSADI ASSAULT CARRIER ISS DELOS, MANEUVERING, ELETHA

MAY, 2310

Nolin hauled himself off the deck and onto his hands and knees. Most of the bridge was destroyed. He reached up to the panel on his command chair, "Wilkes! Dammit Wilkes, I need you!'

There was a crackling sound and Wilkes' coughing voice came through. "We're still here Admiral. We've got about five minutes before we blow up though and not a damn thing we can do to stop it. The intermix controls are gone. No damage control available. We've lost both flight decks, main deflector's gone, aft weapons pods destroyed...About all we can do is shoot and scoot."

Nolin looked at the part of his tactical hologram that was still working. Directly in front of him were a pair of the new _Galor-_class battleships. The Cardassian commanders would be there. He hit the panel again. "All hands, I'm proud of you. All weapons, engage forward. Wilkes, ramming speed! Everyone else, abandon ship." He moved to the helm console and gently moved the dead youngster who had been manning that station. He stroked her fur as the whine of the engines got louder. "You did so well, little one."

He smiled as he watched the battleship swell in the view screen, streaks of missiles, phasers, and disruptors racing from the battered _Delos_ into the enemy ship. He was purring as the range closed.

In disruptor targeting, Eletha waved smoke away from the console. The old veteran who had been at that station was unconscious on the floor, burns all over his upper body from a power conduit that had let go. The trainee was clearly terrified. "Just keep the pipper on that ship, all right? Watch the drift – you have to compensate."

He stared at her, his eyes open wide, "We're going to die."

"Yup. So let's make it count." She knew her mate, Corin, must be dead. The east hangar pod had been almost blown off the ship. But this poor boy had probably never had a chance to find a mate. She smiled at him comfortingly. "At this point, nothing matters but style." She put her hand on his, "Just keep the tracking on them and we'll do this together." She fired the disruptor banks again.

T'ELESH, DOSAD

MAY, 2310

The holo-image was showing Nolin's smiling face with a split-screen showing the _Delos'_ main view screen. When the _Galor_ leapt into warp, Nolin spat with rage, "COWARDS!" and altered his course towards the second battleship.

They had no chance to evade the charging 20,000 tons of near-wreckage. She had been hidden in the sensor shadow of the _Galor_ and her crew barely had time to note they were under attack before the _Delos_ slammed into her forward hull.

S'eth and Ri had their faces buried in Feros and Yun's fur. Yun was in tears as the feed from the _Delos'_ bridge went dark, and the view jumped again. She just kept saying "No." over and over again. They needed to turn this off. This was horrible beyond words. Why was this allowed to be shown?"

It would be almost a day before Ceena and Tir learned of their parents' fate aboard their old carrier.

Back on Earth, Mrs. Wilkes had collapsed in tears while Rollin and Nina tried to console the old woman. Neither of them wanted to approach her husband who's expression was all the warning they needed. It was one thing to learn that your son had been killed in battle. It was quite another to watch it happen live in front of you.

But Nelson was speaking again.

"We...we've taken control of the center." he shifted his view around the room as Veth quickly planted explosives on the various panels and slapped detonators into the clay-like substance. Soral was moving from man to man, treating what wounds he could while Ason was firing a heavy plasma auto-cannon out the window at something out of sight.

"As I understand it, this means that..." he ducked, and there was a loud bang and a spray of debris flew through the image. "...sorry. That the Cardassian air-defenses are no longer working or not working as well or something. The Dosadi are bringing in a lot of Marines to take back the planet and this means they can land safely."

He looked at Trion, the Strike Leader's left arm shattered below the elbow. She scowled at him, "What are _you_ looking at, Nelson? Find someone pretty to show all your fans."

"As you can tell, the Cardassian Soldiers are fighting hard. I'm told they are from the First and Ninth Orders. The Team Leader, Lieutenant Commander Corin has referred to them as, and I apologize to my gentler viewers, "God damn lizards out of hell." He focused on Corin's face, the right side of his head a bloody mess. For my Cardassian viewers, you can be proud of your Soldiers...We're moving again, I don't know to...oh...they're going to blow it up." And the view began to bounce as Nelson ran behind the team.

Another jump.

Aboard the SWACS, Erelan watched Nollos. "You OK, Nollos?" She just shook her head, her hands moving over the controls in front of her, adjusting levels and monitoring the incoming feeds that she was weaving together.

The tech behind them asked, "What's up, Erelan?"

"Her father, aunt, and uncle were on that ship that just ran into the other one and that dude with the messed up face is her brother. Her sister's in charge of all the fighters and her mother's that old Marine lady."

Yun couldn't take her eyes off of the holo-display. Every image was only adding to a collection of things she wished she had never seen, that she wished she never even knew existed, but she couldn't stop watching. It was a kaleidoscope of horrors.

Now, there were lines of Dosadi Marines dropping through holes in the floor of the ship they were in – she saw Sooth's helmet, with it's pink heart, drop out, second in line. The feed stayed with the interior of the _K'Path_, shifting to the flight deck, the view shaking as the two men were working furiously at their controls.

The pilot said, "Anything?"

"Nope. We're fucked."

"Ah, screw it. Aim for something big."

And the view jumped to a view of clear blue sky through a faceplate with a data display on it. The banner scrolling around the base of the holo-display said "LIVE FEED - STORM LEADER SOOTH – DOSADI IMPERIAL MARINES – LIVE FEED" She looked down and Yun and Feros could see what looked like a group of armored vehicles coming up fast and lines of Cardassian troops frantically running towards them. A quick glance to the right and there was a smoke trail leading into the ground with a terrific flash of light and the screen darkened until she looked back down and the view tumbled and rolled as she hit dirt.

They could see her plasma rifle come up through her faceplate and hear the ripping sound of two rounds tearing into running Cardassians. Just in front of her, the Commander was hobbling forward, his bad leg slowing his advance. He too was engaging the on-rushing men of the Ninth Order, attempting to keep them from reaching their vehicles.

Yun screamed as a Cardassian phaser hit him in the head, his now-headless body collapsing forward onto it's front. The view panned rapidly left and right and they could see the Marines hesitate.

Sooth shouted "FOLLOW ME!" and charged the oncoming troops, firing as she advanced at a strange, gliding run.

Something hit the faceplate, creating a web of cracks in the lower right corner of the holo-image. There was another impact that caused the scene to jump, and she yelled again, "KEEP FIRING!"

They could see that the Cardassians hadn't managed to reach their vehicles – those who had been closest were the first to die. The remainder were now running away. Sooth led her Marines through the vehicles ordering "Alpha, start blowing these damn tanks up, Everybody else, three-sixty security. Where the hell's the rest of the officers?!"

The young Marine Sooth had been teasing in the _K'Path _came into view. "Storm Leader, you're hit!"

The sixty-year old Sooth answered, "No shit. Where's the XO? Where are the company commanders?"

They could see him fussing with something, she glanced down once and they saw that there was a blackened hole in her lower right side, a bloody streak down her leg armor. She looked up as another pair of Dosadi came up, "XO's dead, Storm Leader, I've got "Lieutenant Leean here. Delta CO."

Sooth hissed, "Dammit Arlos, leave that alone, that hurts like hell. Lieutenant, looks like you're in charge." Other company commanders, some merely Force Leaders who had to step up, had arrived.

The officer was struggling. "We...we should..." She looked left and right, hesitating.

"May I make a recommendation, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Storm, what have you got in mind?"

"The briefing said their reinforcements are going to be coming from that direction. Infantry. We've got their vehicles; Wish we could use them! I'd put most of the battalion along that ridge, put the rest in a circle around the park here, but be ready to turn 'em around if we get overrun. They've got a lot more troops than we do."

"Yes. Yes, that's a good idea. We'll do it that way." The other leaders nodded and began to disperse their troops.

The young officer looked at Sooth. The viewers saw her looking down. "That's a hell of a hole, Storm."

"I've had worse."

"You're kidding. Aren't you?"

"Nope. Still hurts like hell." she laughed. "First jump?"

"Yeah. It's a lot different than I thought."

"There's no real way to train for it. Arlos, if you keep stuffing that shit in that hole I'm going to rip your god damn arms off."

Arlos' helmet came back into view. "It's packed anyway, Storm Leader. That should keep it from bleeding more."

"Mother hen." she snorted. "Fine, you're with me from here on out. Stay close to me, if I need errands run, you're it and you'd better run like hell when I tell you to."

"Lieutenant, we got ripped up on that drop, but we can't let them through here. We need to keep blowing these tanks up until they're gone and we need to stay in this blocking position. If those men get through us, they'll be coming right into the rear of the rest of our troops.

"You are going to be scared so bad you're going to want to pee yourself but won't be able to. It's going to look like everyone is dead. No matter what happens, you keep yelling orders loud and strong. Don't let anyone know you're scared. We'll win if you can hold here. But it's on you."

The other Marine turned and looked at the troops taking defensive positions along the ridge and the view jumped again.

The image in the holo-display rolled back and forth and spun quickly as the fighter dodged debris. Heather's calm voice came through again. "All right people, time to go help the dirty ones. Follow me down, switch IFF to ground forces, shields full front." The tan planet suddenly swung up to fill the screen and began to grow larger as her fighter dove down onto Eletha.

FEDERATION HEAVY CRUISER USS EXCELSIOR, MANUEVERING, ELETHA

MAY, 2310

The view screen showed the remaining Cardassian vessels warping out or trying to run away at impulse power, and not getting very far. The heavy ships were gone – broken pieces of cruisers and battleships falling slowly into Eletha, adding to the glowing fireballs filling her skies. But the cost had been crushing; of the 70 combat vessels the Dosadi brought with them, 45 were gone.

Captain Crajjik finally reached the ranking Dosadi commander aboard the heavy cruiser _Thelet _and the ancient cat's face appeared to waver some. Flames were visible behind him with crews actively fighting the fire. "Captain Hurtal, it appears you're in command."

"From what we can tell, yes. There wasn't much need for fleet command or control once we came out of warp." he laughed. "Just keep shooting until there's nothing left to shoot at. Thank you, Captain for all you have done here today."

"Looks like we were late, Captain. Both battleships destroyed, all three carriers..."

"They were old ships, Captain. They died valiantly and with great honor. Had it not been for your destruction of the Cardassian base in the nebula and then arriving here...The price would have been far higher. The people of Dosad will never forget you."

"We're starting to retrieve as many escape pods as we can. There's so much debris – some of them were destroyed in collisions." The watchers saw Crajjik studying his opposite number. "Captain...How old are you?"

He laughed, "What is age but a number? I'm 97 and one of the oldest Dosadi alive. But I can still fight as you can see."

"Can you even stand on your own, Captain?"

"I don't need to stand to fight my ship as I did forty years ago. Look at your helmsmen, Captain, they are little more than kits."

Crajjik smiled, "They're also your kinsmen, Captain. We have a number of cadets aboard for training and they got carried along. Once things settled down, we put them back at their stations."

"Kinsmen?"

"They are one quarter Dosadi, Captain; Twins. Their mother is the Wing Commander for the fighters engaged here today."

And the view cut again.

Nelson's voice was pitching higher as he talked. There was a constant roar punctuated by explosions. "We...they...the Cardassians are counter-attacking. They appear desperate to retake this command post. I don't know how many there are, it looks like thousands!" He poked his head up a little from behind the rock he was sheltering behind.

There was a road leading out of a narrow pass in a rocky hill. Advancing up the hill in rushes were great numbers of Cardassian Soldiers in their black and grey uniforms. He scanned left and right, taking in what was left of Raider Team Six.

Trion was on the far left, her left arm useless now and her right leg torn and bloody., She was still firing her plasma rifle, one handed with it wedged into a crack in the rocks. Veth was next in line, bleeding heavily from multiple wounds, his plasma rifle a smashed chunk of metal and plastic next to him, and firing a hand phaser. Ason laying prone almost in the middle of the path, his heavy plasma auto-cannon stuttering and discharging blue-white streaks of energy into the enemy ranks. Corin next to him, blood everywhere, firing wherever Ason wasn't.

Soral was down, dead or unconscious, no one could tell, but young Trellos was covering the medic's body with her own, alternating between firing her rifle and shouting into her comm gear, "We need some fucking air support right fucking now or we are all going to die! There's an entire god damn division coming up the road! They're in the open! Send us some god damn air support!"

And then the artillery began to impact. Trellos and Soral vanished in the fountain of dirt and Nelson ducked further into his rock. More rounds were hitting above them and behind them. He looked again at where the medic had been and saw Trellos, her active camouflage battle dress in shreds, throw down the smashed communications gear she had been using, "FUCK!" She grabbed Soral and dragged him further into what cover there was.

Corin yelled "Fall back! 100 meters back to those rocks – hold them from there. I'll cover you! Ason, get Veth, Trellos, take Soral."

Trion crawled backwards as best she could, "Cap, bring the damn..." and she realized what he had said. Another photon-mortar hit just behind them, showering everyone with clods of dirt and pebbles. "God dammit, Cap!"

Nelson watched as he looked over his shoulder at the mobile team members who were starting to fall back.

S'eth screamed when she saw her father's limp form over Ason's muscular shoulders as he ran past. Feros was motionless, her mouth hanging open and Yun felt like she was going to throw up.

Corin grinned, the expression made grotesque from the injuries to his head. "Knee's gone, Storm. I'm good here. Tell Yun and Ri I'm sorry. I tried." And went back to firing Ason's auto-cannon. Nelson looked at Corin's leg which had been shredded well above the knee.

Trion hesitated for a moment, looking at her CO. Her friend. She glanced at the Cardassians; The only thing slowing them down at all was the constant fire from the auto-cannon. And she got to her feet and retreated, as ordered, grabbing Nelson. "C'mon damn you."

He shook her grip off. "I'm staying. I've got good cover. I'm neutral." Another bang and spray of dirt.

She said, "Your call, reporter-man." She paused for a heartbeat. "You did good, Nelson." and hobbled off after the survivors of Team Six.

The view zoomed in on the back of Corin's head and shoulders, coming from behind him so that the viewers could almost see down the auto-cannon. The blue-white streaks tracked back and forth along the Cardassian troops creating a fearful butchery. But they were finding the range, and when he was engaging one side, the other was advancing, closing the distance up the slope.

And the view jumped again.

The view screen was a confused, dim smear of blue-grey splotches with a web of cracks across it. There was the sound – now familiar – of a Dosadi plasma rifle firing again and again. The banner at the bottom of the screen indicated that the video feed was from Storm Leader Sooth, but there wasn't much to see. "Ge...get...off...of me, you...damn...kit" came Sooth's voice.

The view lightened and Yun and Feros could see Arlos roll slightly onto his side now, a hand appearing and fumbling at an ammo pouch for another magazine. "Everyone ran, Storm Leader!"

The view bounced left and right as Arlos fired again, but he had shifted position enough so that the image showed his side and a blue sky overhead with fireballs streaming across it. "f...fall...back...idiot. Can...t hold them yourself" she slurred.

"You said stick with you!" more shots.

"Go find a...girl...have kits...gimme that...rifle..."

"I'm not leaving you!" more shots.

And the view jumped again, this time the scroll at the bottom of the holo-viewer said

CREWMAN R'AWN – DOSADI IMPERIAL MARINES

"...can't just leave them alone out there you god damn honorless cowards!" she screamed, her view scanning across a dozen Marines crouching behind cover. The view quickly panned around and showed two bloody troopers in armor laying in a shallow hole, perhaps a fifty meters to their front, and past them a hundred Cardassians advancing in rushes toward them.

She looked down again and kicked the person in front of her, "ALL of you! ON YOUR FUCKING FEET OR I WILL SHOOT YOU MYSELF! FOLLOW ME!" And the view spun past the group of Marines starting to rise up and began to bounce as she screamed something unintelligible and began firing at the now very surprised Cardassian line while running forward.

Later, Yun thought it took forever for the young woman to cover the short distance to where Arlos was laying prone on Sooth, finally diving into the hole next to him. Tears were streaming down her face and Ri had crawled into her lap and was chewing on her own tail.

S'eth asked "Mommy...is daddy dead?"

But the view jumped again.

All they could see was dirt for a moment and then Nelson looked up again. Corin was struggling to crawl half onto a rock. The auto-cannon had been blown to pieces and his right arm was nothing but bloody shreds of raw meat. He was groping for his hand phaser, but couldn't find it. After a second's fruitless search, he drew the little silenced caseless-ammo pistol with his left hand.

Nelson watched it jump several times, and when Corin fired again there was the most terrifying screaming sound he had ever heard.

The display rolling around the holo-display showed the ground coming up fast. A single blinking numeral six in a circle was blinking red just below the center of the screen. The top half was cluttered with small green rectangles with an X connecting the corners. Further down was a cluster of other sixes, so merged together as to be almost unreadable. Heather's calm voice came through the speakers again: "Wide dispersion, cut it as close as you can, stay low and do NOT pop up. Break to your own side, I'm coming left, get separation then come back around. Watch the friendlies."

There was a half second pause and the display shook while streams of green light and pulses of bright white raced away from the diving fighter into the ground. Very few people at home could follow any of the symbology on the display or make out anything in the clouds rising up as the three _Nighthawks_ began their strafing run.

And the view jumped again.

Nelson looked up as three fighters dove out of the sky directly at him. For a moment, he thought he was going to die as they opened fire, but instead, a series of cracking explosions began a dozen or so meters in front of him and continued on into the distance. He tracked along with the leader as the _Nighthawk_ shrieked past and into the distance, banking tightly to the left and vanishing.

Aboard the SWACS, Nollos moved her fingers on her control screen, zooming the image and slowing the feed just enough so the words painted on the Federation fighter's nose were readable, and then returning to full speed as the _Broken Angel_ soared past and away.

Arlos and his friend R'Awn tried to crawl even further into their hole as a half dozen _Nighthawks_ came dropping out of the sky and began to obliterate the Cardassian troops advancing on them. When it became obvious that the survivors were trying to retreat, they turned their attention to the old NCO they had been protecting.

Arlos shook her shoulder, "Storm Leader?" There was no response.

R'Awn yelled "MEDIC!" and tore into her own first aid kit to try to treat the wounds they could see since Sooth's kit was exhausted.

Civilians are generally not prepared for the realities of combat. This was a unique glimpse into the world of the combat Soldier and it was more than many people could take. Many turned off the terrible images of violence and gore. Many more found the images and narrative too imposing to turn away.

But the images that came to truly define the battle for many came at the end. Nelson, peering up out of cover saw the remaining Cardassian troops running as fast as they could. The three warbirds screaming after them again and again. He jumped out of his hole and ran to what was left of Corin. Displays across the galaxy showed a burned, blasted, and battered warrior, still holding his empty pistol in his remaining hand.

Nelson took his ruck off, quickly tearing into the medical supplies he had been carrying as a neutral. With a strength of purpose he never knew he had, he began to tie-off, close-up, and treat Corin's many injuries. Corin finally gasped out in a hoarse whisper, "too...stupid...to...run?"

"I'm not the one that was laying in the open Corin." he finished tying off a tourniquet on the stump of his arm. "Just remember, there's no place in this galaxy you can hide from me, Corin. I'll get my story." While he worked he asked Corin, "Why do they call you Cap? You're not a Captain?"

Struggling to breath, Corin answered, "Not...Standard...Dosadi...Sh...short for...Capiolos...Means nuts...crazy."

Nelson laughed, "Fits you." He checked over his work quickly. "I didn't complete all your medic training, but I think that'll hold you until a real medic gets to you." But the old Soldier was unconscious. Nelson stood up and surveyed the hill and the path leading towards the Cardassian casualties. He began to jog towards the many bodies he could see.

Nollos left his feed live while he began to treat the Cardassian wounded, one after another. She would cut away for the occasional analysis or commentary or other live feed, but again and again she returned to the human in Dosadi active-camouflage battle dress making his way across the battlefield, treating Cardassian wounded.

Feros and Yun were in shock. They kept asking each other, "Is he alive?" Both kept hoping the feed would return to their loved ones so they would have some idea of their status. For hours, they left the display playing, listening to endless commentaries and discussions and the endless, awful replays.

But no answer came.

In the following days, both the Federation and the Klingon Empire stated that they would guarantee the Imperium's borders against any incursion by any other power. Both they, the Hydrans, the Tholians, and the Gorn formally recognized the Dosadi claim on Eletha. In little more than an hour, the Dosadi had achieved a stunning military and political victory against overwhelming odds.

It would be nearly two weeks before the first wounded survivors began to arrive back on Dosad and over a month before front line Fleet elements were able to arrive to replace the obsolete vessels with their retiree/trainee crews who had paid such a dreadful price.

Weeks of worry for thousands of families; at least for those who had not seen _their_ loved ones die in front of their eyes. For the families of Raider Team Six, it was a miserable time. They were fairly sure that Trion, Ason, and Trellos had survived, but they didn't _know_.


	11. Chapter 10

_**CHAPTER 10**_

_bomDI' 'IwwIj qaqaw. (The memory of you sings in my blood.)_

_- Klingon Folk Saying_

T'ELESH, DOSAD

JUNE, 2310

Arlos and R'Awn helped the old woman into her roundhouse. She still wasn't moving terribly well, favoring her left leg while bent slightly forward to keep from stressing the scars on her right side. They slid the door open for her and she stepped in.

Sooth looked at the home she had made for so many years and stopped halfway across the threshold. Everything was where they left it the morning they had left for the fleet. All the same things. Nollos and even Nelson were here, just as they had been that night, smiling at her. So why did it look and feel so empty?

Could just the knowledge that he would never come home empty an entire building like that? She sighed deeply, remembering so many happy homecomings for the both of them across decades of service in two different fleets.

"Storm Leader?" Arlos asked.

She shook her head. "Sorry. You two don't need to keep fussing over me you know. You already went above and beyond on Eletha!"

Nollos offered, "I asked them to, Mother. It gave Nelson and me a chance to get your things ready here."

Still standing in the doorway, Sooth dropped her eyes. "This is hard, kits. So much harder than I thought. I always thought I'd be the first one to go."

"Mother, please come in. It's still home. You still have all of us, and Heather and Rollin's kits and so many others who count on you and love you."

"I know, Nollos. I promise I do. It's just...I feel so empty." She sighed again and squared her shoulders. She stepped inside and gave her middle daughter a hug. Then she turned to Nelson. "Wilkes liked you, Nelson. I think he saw that you were more than just a reporter."

"I don't understand. I _am_ just a reporter."

She wrapped the young human in her arms as she had her mate so many times, "Nelson, before I left the medical bay they showed me that battle at the pass. You tried so hard to save him. And you told their story; the Klingons aren't that impressed by other races in combat. Those men _impressed_ the Klingons with their skill and valor – They saw that because you fought with them, unarmed and half-trained. And now they're helping to guarantee our safety."

She broke the hug and stroked around his left eye. "If you'll let us, I'd like to get you a tattoo, right about here..."

Nelson laughed, "I am truly honored, Sooth, but part of my job is to blend into the background when I need to. That'd be hard to do with a Dosadi decoration on my face."

Sooth grinned at him and patted his shoulder. "You may find you spend more time here than you expect. You're not done with your research on our family are you?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "No, not by a long shot. But once I'm done, I've got other stories to do for Argus and that'll take me away from here."

"Of course." She sat down, stretching her legs out. "Arlos, R'awn, if you're going to keep following me around you're at least going to make yourselves useful. R'awn, please go in the kitchen and get something for everyone to nibble on." When the young Marine had left the room, Sooth reached up and grabbed Arlos' arm and pulled him down close. She whispered, "If you let that one go, I will break both your legs, Crewman. Now go help her get some food together."

"Yes, Storm Leader!" he grinned and obediently trotted into the kitchen after his friend.

Nollos finally got it. "Oh no, Mother. Don't you _dare_ get that look on your face."

"Don't be silly." she said smugly. And then, "Is there any news about him?"

Nollos glanced at Nelson briefly, and then back at her mother's smiling face. Annoyed, "No, he's still in a coma. They've got everything closed up though."

"What about the girls?"

"Yun goes to see how he is most days, according to the doctors."

"And the little one?"

Nollos shook her head. "She went once, then refused to go again. She stays with Veth a lot. I think his little girl is helping her to deal with it. I'm glad she wasn't staying with Soral's family. They're...struggling to cope."

"What about Corin and Eletha's kits?"

"They're going to be OK. They're a strong family." She sat down by her mother. "They lost them both. I can't imagine that. I'm having a hard enough time trying to get used to Dad being gone." She leaned her head on her mother's shoulder.

"And you had to sit there and send it out to the galaxy while it happened." She reached up and stroked her kit's face. "And your brother, too. I heard something though, kit."

Nollos sniffed, trying not to cry. "What?"

"You're to be honored by the Emperor himself. They're crediting you with rallying our allies and convincing the galaxy of the justness of our cause."

"Mother! All I did was editing!"

"You made it something _real_ to people, Nollos. Real, and immediate and horrifying and full of real people with real lives who were fighting and dying for what they believed in. And you made them care about _us_."

Nelson subtly adjusted the zoom on his sensor-glasses.

Sooth looked up at him. "Nelson, seriously, I'm going to take those away from you."

Laughing he took them off. "Sorry, Sooth. Old habit."

Corin opened his eyes, slowly – they were sticky. Yun's face pulled away from him quickly, and disappeared to his right. "munh?" Why couldn't he see anything out of his right eye? He tried to reach up to pull whatever was on it off, but nothing happened. He started to struggle.

"Corin, stop. Please, stop. You're going to hurt yourself." She put her hand on his chest. It was warm and solid and pushed him gently into the diagnostic bed.

"Do you remember any of what happened, Corin?"

She looked angry, but for the life of him he didn't know why. He tried to speak, but his tongue was thick and his mouth was dry. He swallowed several times. "The battle?"

"Yes." A doctor came in with a hand scanner and began waving it over him.

"I'll be damned. " the man said.

"How much do you remember?" she asked.

Corin tried to think. Things were still...fuzzy. Things hadn't gone well from the start. He remembered that. She gave him time to recall. Slowly, in bits and pieces the images came back to him.

"How are they? Who did we lose? How many?"

She shook her head. "I am so angry with you Corin. But only Soral. Everyone else survived, thanks to you. Soral died before you ordered them back. A bomb hit right next to him and Trellos. It blew her clothing and equipment to shreds but hardly scratched her. It killed him."

He closed his eyes again.

"No, Corin, open your eyes. Right now. It's important. Do not go back to sleep, Corin." She shook him. "Corin!"

He opened his eyes again. "What?"

"You mustn't go back to sleep, OK?"

"I wasn't. How is his family? His mate?"

She sighed angrily. "They're doing as well as anyone is in their position, and there are _thousands_ of families who lost loved ones."

"I tried to save him, I really did. I should've..."

"God DAMN you Corin!" the doctor looked up surprised.

"I'm sorry, I really..."

"Did you even give one _second's _thought to me or Ri? Did you try to save _YOU_?! It's so easy for you to die, isn't it? I saw it! I saw you! You couldn't have been _happier _to lay there and die for your team! You didn't even _try!_"

"I...I had to stay behind. I needed to cover them."

She wiped her eyes. "You are such an ass, Corin. You could have had Nelson carry you. Take the fucking gun with you and shoot from a rock or something. But no, you just lay there getting blown apart and thinking you were being heroic." She shoved his chest, hard. The doctor was becoming alarmed at the abuse his patient was suffering. "You think you're brave? Brave would have been coming home and _living_ with all the messy emotional pain and the boredom of a normal life. But no, you have to be some storybook hero because it's _easier_ than dealing with life.

"You know what? Uthin, that little clerk you almost beat up? _HE'S_ braver than you are. He has a mate and kits and he gives everything he's got so that he can raise a family and they can lead happy lives together and grow up and live too. He doesn't go looking for ways to die."

"That little girl is devastated, Corin. She saw the whole god damn thing, live. She saw that death's-head grin when you told them to leave you there. She knows it too." She shoved his chest again, turned around and left the room.

The doctor, clearly uncomfortable said, "Uh, okay. Well, uh, how are you feeling?"

Corin took a moment before he looked back from the empty door to the doctor."Like shit. What's wrong with me? Nothing's working right."

"Corin, you were very, very, very badly injured. You need to brace yourself, all right? This is not going to be easy to hear."

"Okay. What is it?" Corin had been told bad news by doctors before.

"You lost your right leg, your right arm, your right eye and ear. You were in a coma for almost a month. Your heart actually stopped several times and you had significant swelling in your brain. Your liver and right kidney suffered extensive damage."

He sighed, "Regen again? I hate that muck."

"Corin...you were already _in_ regen. We barely managed to get your liver and kidney repaired. Your tissues are...fragile now when it comes to any form of regen. Even wound-sealers don't work very well any more. You've got scars on your scars. I had to actually stitch your stumps closed and we had to use dressings like it was over a century ago."

He was stunned. "Stumps?" He tried to move his right arm again and although it _felt_ like he was moving it, nothing much happened. When he looked down, he saw the sheet covering him moving a little but...As he glanced further down he noticed the same thing. His body ended just below the hip on his ride side. "What the fuck?! Doc, how do I get them back?"

"You don't. That's what I'm trying to tell you. We can fit you with prosthetics though, Corin. It'll take some getting used to, but you'll be able to walk almost normally and do almost everything a normal person does.

"Please don't close your eyes...Open your eyes. You need to stay awake at least eight or nine hours, Corin, you were in a coma way too long. The bets were that you weren't ever going to wake up."

The next day, Yun was back, and with her was little Rileeta. Yun still smelled angry, but not as furious as she had been. Corin thought that he hadn't ever been as glad to see someone as he was the two of them.

"Hello, Yun! Ri! I'm so glad to see..." the kit barely glanced at him. He was surprised to feel that single glance hurt. A lot. "Ri?"

Yun said, "I told her she needed to come and see you."

He blinked. He had heard stories about how they couldn't keep her away from his side the last time he was wounded. And she had literally crawled kilometers through freezing rain and mud to come stay with him. Twice. And now she had to be told to visit? That hurt even more.

"Ri?" She glanced at him again with a cold expression, then turned away and began looking at some equipment.

Yun let go of her hand and came and sat by Corin. He was staring at the little girl who was studiously ignoring him. "How are you feeling? Did the doctor tell you about...well...your injuries?"

"Yes. I...I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do, Yun. I can't lead my team...I can't do anything. I'm half a man!"

She looked at him. "Corin, you were always half a man. Now you're just half a man who's missing some parts."

"What the hell? Are you just coming back here every day to insult me? I got the shit blown out of me!"

"No, I come back here every day to tell you the truth. Something someone should have told you a long time ago, Corin." She curled her legs under herself and wrapped her tail around her feet. He noticed she no longer smelled angry. "Who are you, Corin?"

"What? What do you mean, who am I?"

She shrugged. "Who are you?"

Puzzled he said, "I'm Lieutenant Commander Corin, Team Leader of Raider Team Six, Dosadi Imperial Navy."

"No, that's what you _do, _not who you are. But for you, they're the same thing, aren't they?"

"They are for everyone, Yun."

"Do you even know what _I_ do, Corin?"

"You...well you..." he struggled to think. The topic had never come up. "You're an artist." he guessed.

She actually laughed. "No, but a good guess, I suppose. I'm an architect, Corin. I design homes. I only just recently found a group of builders who want to work with me; I design differently then they're used to here. But you see? That's not who I _am_."

He was truly embarrassed. She could smell it. "That's why I said you're only half a man, Lieutenant Commander Corin. All you are is what you do."

That stung. "Then why bother with me at all?"

She cocked her head at him. "I told you once before, I don't know. I still think it's because I saw someone inside the killer. A man. A man who would spend his time patiently teaching a little girl how to swim, or how to do Tai Chi. I think I saw that there _could_ be another half of you, but that you were terrified to let it out.

"You told me once Tai Chi was about achieving balance. How balanced do you think you are, Lieutenant Commander Corin?"

He was really starting to hate the sound of his name and rank. He was going to make a glib reply, but actually stopped and thought about it instead. She watched him work through it. "Yesterday, I would have said very. But Yun, if I'm not a Soldier, what am I? What good am I? What purpose do I serve?"

She put her hand on his right shoulder, careful to avoid the stump. "That's up to you. You're lucky; you have choices in front of you. So many people never get the chance that you have."

"What chance? I have to learn how to _walk_ all over again."

"There is a little girl over there who, more than anything in the universe wants to have a pig-headed, half-man Soldier for her father. What are you? What good are you? That's up to you. You _could_ be a teacher, a father, a protector, an example, and more. Or you can, I don't know, give up and die since you can't go out and kill any more and didn't get to die being 'heroic'."

"She doesn't even want to talk to me." He said a little more sulkily than he intended.

"Rileeta?" the girl turned to look at Yun. "Do you have anything you want to say to Lieutenant Commander Corin?" He gritted his teeth.

She shook her head, never taking her eyes off of Yun.

Yun stood up. "I'll come back tomorrow, if you want me to."

"You're leaving?"

"I think so. This is difficult for Ri. And I think you've got enough to think about for a while. And I'm tired of being mad at you, so I'm hoping you pull your head out of your ass." She squeezed his shoulder. Then she collected Ri and left the room.

Two weeks later, a lot of family and friends had gathered at Sooth's, both to welcome Corin out of the hospital and to remember Wilkes. Ceena, Tir, Yun, Ri, Nollos, and Nelson were there, along with many neighbors and old business associates.

Yun had proved to be more patient with Corin than he expected. He had struggled with learning how to use the advanced prosthetic leg and arm he had been fit with – they provided some sense of touch and moved fairly normally but learning _how_ to make them respond was difficult, and the stumps needed time and practice to acclimate to the fit of the devices. They hurt – constantly. Yet she would put up with the cursing, the frustration, and the far too frequent outbursts.

But he struggled more with trying to understand exactly why Yun was so angry at him. Intellectually he knew she was upset with the risks he had taken and the danger he had placed himself in, but he had yet to fully make the connection that she really did care about him. People said things like that, frequently, but they rarely meant it. Except, she seemed to. Her anger at him hurt and confused him, although there was none of the open 'mad' that she had displayed the first couple of days. It was more a...coolness. As though she were waiting for something from him.

But not nearly as much as Ri's cold indifference. She would obediently come along with Yun when asked, but mostly refused to even talk to him. There was none of the warmth that he had come to count on. She didn't hold his hand, or wrap her arms around his leg, or smile at him and he was finding that left him feeling very empty, and alone. That was even more confusing. He _liked _being alone. He preferred it. So why was there this constant, aching hole in his middle now?

By the time dinner had finished, a fair-sized early summer thunderstorm had rolled in, punctuating the conversation with low rumbles and the flash of lightning outside while the rain lashed at the roof and the deep windows. The breeze freshened the air inside with its cool, crisp draft, laden with the scent of the rain.

As usual, Corin had hardly participated in the dinner beyond eating the food and being there. Ceena had been watching the three of them. When things started winding down and people started heading for home or looking for places to curl up, she stood up and walked over to Ri.

"Rileeta, would you come outside with me for a little bit?"

The little girl was surprised, "Um, it's raining and thundering outside."

"I know. I love thunderstorms. You won't melt, I promise."

Puzzled, Ri stood up and followed the older woman outside, into the rain. Sooth cast a thoughtful glance after them, and then at her eldest son. Yun was laughing at something that Tir had said. Everyone appeared to have had a good time saying goodbye to Wilkes, remembering favorite jokes, songs, or stories. Except Corin, who had seemed more withdrawn than normal. She decided to wait and see what would happen; In her nearly sixty years she had found that waiting often served better than rushing to action.

Outside, Ri fluffed her fur against the wind and the rain while Ceena said, "Ahhh! I _love_ the feel of being out in a storm!" She held her arms wide, and tipped her face up to the rain while they walked.

"Okay." Ri was still intimidated by Ceena and figured it was safer to simply agree.

Ceena laughed, "It's not for everyone. Here, we can sit here under these branches and be mostly dry, unless the wind blows the rain on us and you won't feel so cold or wet." They moved underneath one of the big Dosadi trees with the long corn husk-like leaves hanging down. They acted very much like gutters, channeling the gurgling rainwater into the ground for the tree's roots. The two of them sat for a little while, watching the dark clouds roil across the black sky and listening to the rain and thunder.

Finally, Ceena turned her attention to the little girl. She sighed. "Rileeta, can I talk to you, woman to woman? Do you know what that means?"

Pleased at her promotion, Ri answered, "I think so. You mean you want to talk about important stuff, right?"

"Yes. And things that are hard to understand and hard to do. They're pretty grown-up. Maybe too grown-up, but you seem to understand and be able to handle a lot more than most kits your age."

"Thank you." She was pleased that Ceena saw her in that light.

"You know you're hurting Corin terribly, don't you?"

Rileeta hung her head.

"He deserves it, some, too."

Surprised, she looked sideways at Ceena.

"But, he doesn't understand why you're being so distant. He knows it hurts, but he doesn't understand why."

"That's stupid." Ri said.

Ceena laughed. "Yes, it sort of is. Corin's a little peculiar. Do you want to know why?"

"Yes, please."

Ceena half-turned to face the child. "A long time ago when we were children, Corin really admired and looked up to my brother, Kaileen. Have you heard about him?"

"No. I don't think so."

"He was my age, and he was brave, and strong, and smart and he always did the right thing. He had his first challenge – against a grown man and a dangerous warrior! - when he was only a little older than you, because he thought the man was hurting Corin's sister, Heather. You've heard of _her,_ right?"

"Yes! She was in the battle. Did she do something wrong though? Nelson talks about her like she did something wrong or..."

"I'll tell you that story another time, OK? Or you can ask Nelson. But he'll talk both your ears off, so have some time before you ask him." she chuckled. "But, as I was saying. Corin wanted to be just like Kai. And Corin adored his sister. She was this tiny little red, spotted kit..."

"Red and spotted?!" she asked incredulously.

"You know they're different, right? Because their dad was human?"

"Oh, yeah. Corin told me that."

"Exactly. Anyway, she was this feisty little ball of curiosity and energy. A lot like you, actually. When this happened, they were just a couple years younger than you."

"What happened?"

She looked sad. "We were all visiting Earth and a group of really bad men ran off with Heather. They were going to kill her or do something awful to her. But Kai attacked them. He saved her."

"Like Corin did me!"

"Yes, but kit, my brother was a child and he attacked three grown men. He killed all three of them, but they killed him too. And Corin saw."

"Oh." Her green eyes were wide.

The rain came down, making a pattering sound while Ceena collected herself. "Even after all these years it's still hard. I know _you _understand, though Rileeta." She shook her head. "It hurt Corin terribly. The boy he idolized, that he wanted to be like had done the right thing, he had saved his sister, but he died. All the love he felt for my brother...well, it sort of blew up inside him.

"I don't think he ever really let himself love anyone other than his family again. Not the way you should, anyway, with all your heart."

"Not ever?"

"No, Rileeta. I don't think so. He loves his team and would do anything for them, but he doesn't let them get close. He loves everyone, really. He'd die to protect anyone, just like Kai did. Some days I think he wants to die. I think he hurts inside all the time and just wants it to stop. Do you understand that? It's pretty grown-up."

"I'm not sure. How can he love people but not...If someone loves you and you don't let them...Why?"

She sighed. "I think because if you let someone get close, they can hurt you. If you let them love you, they can hurt you. By leaving, by changing, or...by dying. What would you have felt if Corin had died?"

"He almost did."

"I know. He's almost died a lot, Rileeta. He's a very special kind of Soldier that they send on the most dangerous jobs. It's going to be very, very hard for him now because he won't be able to do that any more. But would it have hurt you if he had died?"

"Yes. A lot."

Ceena nodded. "He's afraid of feeling that kind of hurt. It's easy for him to deal with being shot, or stabbed, or blown up, or broken, or any of those horrible things that happen because of what he does. But he's terrified of having his heart hurt again. Do you know why you're hurting him so much?"

"I don't _mean_ to."

"Yes, you do, Rileeta. He scared you and hurt you and you want to hurt him back. It's very natural. But do you know why it _does _hurt him when you're so cold to him and shut him out?"

"Not really."

"He let himself love you like you were his little girl. And he let you love him back."

"He did?"

"Yes, Rileeta, he did. He's never let anyone stay with him as long as you have, and no one has stayed with him at all for many years. And once he let _you_ into his heart, Yun started to help him open up too. But now, you've turned away from him and it's almost more than he can bear."

The little girl frowned.

"That's what I brought you out here for, Rileeta. I'm asking you to be very grown up. I'm asking you to stop shutting him out and just _tell_ him why you're mad at him and I'm asking you to try to forgive my pig-headed cousin."

She grinned.

"Can you do that? At the very least, tell him why you're mad?"

"Is it okay if I yell?"

Ceena laughed and wrapped her tail around the black-furred kit. "You wouldn't be the first one to yell at him, Rileeta. Just give him a chance, OK?" The two sat and watched the storm for a little while, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Rileeta spoke into the silence. "Okay. I'll try."

"Thank you, Rileeta." She gripped the kit's shoulder. "I respect that about you. You listen, and you think. I hope you two fix it; I'd like to have you be part of our family."

Ri ducked her head and leaned into the older woman.

"Ready?" Ri nodded and the two of them walked through the rain, back into the roundhouse.

About the only folks left and awake were Sooth, Corin, Yun, Nollos, and Nelson. Ceena went in and sat next to Yun and Nelson leaving Rileeta just inside the doorway.

She finally walked over to where Corin was using his left hand to rub at the fit of his prosthetic leg. He looked up at her. She was obviously struggling to come up with just the right words and to be very mature.

"I'm very mad at you." she said. Yun turned her head to watch while Ceena whispered in Tir's ear.

Corin's eyes widened. This was more than she had said to him in weeks, even if it wasn't exactly a warm welcome home. "I kinda figured that out, Ri."

She looked cross. "Why did you do that?"

He was genuinely puzzled. "Do what?"

"You got all blown up. You didn't try to hide or run away or anything."

"I couldn't run away; I had to stay with the team, I had to protect them."

Her face was twitching. "But you didn't even _try_ not to get hurt. You promised you'd come home, You _promised_ and you weren't even _trying_." The volume of her voice was going up. Several of the folks who had found sleeping spots turned to watch.

"I did my best, it was a..."

"No you didn't! You didn't!" she poked him in the chest, "I saw it! I saw all of it! You were just laying there letting them shoot you and you didn't care and you didn't care about me or anyone and you _wanted_ to die even though you _promised_!"

"Ri, that's not true, I tried, I..."

"It is _so_ true! You were supposed to come home and take care of me and teach me to swim and Tai Chi and you _promised!_ Everyone saw it!"

Corin wrapped his left arm around her and tried to pull her to him but she hit him in the chest instead, "You don't care and you were just going to die and leave me all alone again and..." he pulled her in close, despite her hitting him several times.

"Rileeta, that's not true! I do so..."

She was crying openly now, "...all you care about is everyone else and you don't love me and you just you promised and you were gonna die and I saw them shoot you and you were bleeding and you weren't going to come back and you promised." she was crying and hiccuping at the same time and had pretty much become incoherent.

Corin was holding her to him, her face buried in his chest while she cried. He said, quietly, "I do so love you."

She didn't look up, she just shook her head and continued to cry, wetting his fur. "Rileeta, I love you very much, I wish you were my daughter. I'm sorry you think I didn't..." She was still shaking her head.

"Ri, I'm sorry I didn't try harder not to get hurt. And I'm sorry I scared you, or hurt you..." he looked up at Yun, "or anyone else."

Yun was watching him with a somewhat inscrutable expression on her face.

"I don't know how to be anything else, Ri." except he was still looking at Yun. "I'll have to learn though, I guess." he stroked her back while she snuffled.

Still looking at Yun, he said, "Will you help me, Ri? It's going to be hard for me. You'll have to be patient."

Curled up in his lap, her face still buried in his chest, she shrugged.

He pulled her back slightly and looked down, "And Ri, would you stay with me, and let me take care of you? Until you grow up, anyway?"

She sniffed and looked up at him, her expression was a mix of hope and mistrust.

"I'd like to be your father, if you'll let me and help me learn how."

Sooth's ears and whiskers flicked forward. Yun's expression hadn't changed at all. Nollos was still holding the PADD that she and Nelson had been working on, leaning against him. Nelson had his hand on the temple of his glasses.

"Are you gonna go get blown up again?"

"No, Ri. I can't do that any more. I think Trion and I are going to take charge of three teams. But that means we stay here, on Dosad. I have to learn how to be somethi..." he looked at Yun again. "I have to learn how to be some_one_ different."

"You won't send me away any more?"

"Not ever, Ri."

She buried her face in his chest again and cried.

Yun stood up and walked over to him. She gently rubbed his remaining ear. "I think we can work with that, Corin."

"This isn't going to be easy, you know."

She looked at him fondly. "No, it won't be. I'm not even sure it will work for you and me. But at least now I'm seeing that man I first saw on the beach, not the cold and empty one I saw in the holo-display. I'd like to see a lot more of the first one. I think this little one will be able to show _him_ how to come home, Corin."

"I don't really understand what you see, Yun. Or for that matter, what _I_ see. You're not like anyone _I've_ ever been interested in either. But there's something about you that's just...hypnotic."

"Maybe it's that I'm just not willing to give up on you. I'm a bit pig-headed myself and I don't like the idea of you running me off."

He chuckled, "Great. A whole family of stubborn people."

She rubbed his ear again, "I've seen worse."

Sooth stood up and walked over to them, wrapping her arms around all three. "I wish Wilkes could have seen this. Welcome home, Corin."


	12. Chapter 11

_**CHAPTER 11**_

"_It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath."_

_- Aeschylus – Earth (Human)  
_

CULAT, CARDASSIA PRIME

AUGUST, 2310

Corin limped slightly as he walked down the streets of Culat, his two guards keeping a wary eye on him. He thought how very strange it was to walk openly through this city; The last time he had been here, it had been one of the most stressful missions he'd ever been on, sneaking through alleys in the dead of night towards the University. He glanced back at the two Soldiers guarding him. They looked quite capable. Neither had spoken to him beyond perfunctory directions - "Walk that way. Turn left." that sort of thing.

"Stop." the bigger one of the two commanded him. He looked up. The building didn't look all that different from any other Cardassian structure. Their architecture was...heavy. Solid. Everything looked like a fortress of some sort. There was none of the fluidity and harmony with living things that was common on Dosad; especially in Yun's designs. He was happy that her style was finding a following in T'Elesh. The squarer buildings with their peaked roofs and extended, crossing front and rear rafters stood out dramatically from the roundhouse that was more typical in the city. They looked...exotic.

"Well?" his guard asked. He realized he was hesitating. He raised his hand and knocked. When the door opened, he was looking into the face of a middle-aged Cardassian woman. Behind her, sitting on a chair with a PADD was a young girl, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, who had looked up when the door opened.

The woman's face went from shock to ice-cold hostility in rapid succession. "Dosadi." she said as though it were the vilest curse imaginable. And then, "_You._"

Corin met her eyes. "Yes, ma'am." he said, relying on the universal translator to make the appropriate salutation. For a short while he wondered if she were going to slam the door in his face, or attack him. The guards were as much to protect him from the Cardassians they passed, and from her, as they were to keep an eye on him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that they had come up on the balls of their feet, slightly. Clearly they noticed her emotional state as well. He finally continued, "May I come in, please? I think you know why I'm here."

She considered it, then glanced over her shoulder at her daughter who was also looking at him with revulsion. Another glance at the two guards. "Perhaps you should." She stepped back from the doorway allowing the three of them to come into her home, then shut the door behind them. Corin stood at-ease, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I'm sorry to cause you more pain. I have a letter for you from your mate."

"You really brought it with you?" There was a flicker of interest in her face now.

"Yes, Ma'am." He reached into his sash and pulled out an isolinear rod and handed it to her, and then went back to standing at-ease.

She turned to her daughter and ordered, "Natima, bring me that, please." The young girl obediently stood up and handed the device to her mother. She inserted the data rod and began to read, allowing her daughter to read along as well.

Corin kept his eye on an imaginary spot on the back wall, trying his best to give them some privacy. The empty eye-socket itched under the black eye-patch and the stump of his ear ached. It took longer than he thought, which left him more time to catalog the various aches and pains.. Kalekt must have written quite a lengthy farewell letter. When they finished, the little girl was in tears and ran out of the room. The older woman kept her emotions under control, but her eyes were shining.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I saw what happened on that damnable Argus special."

"All of it, Ma'am?"

"Yes."

"Then you know his honor and decency and courage led him to fight _me_ rather than to simply kill _my_ daughter." He continued to stare at that imaginary spot on the wall.

"Do you think that helps?"

"It should, ma'am. He died doing his duty, and he is well respected among his foes." He looked at her. "I liked him. If things had gone only slightly differently, our positions might have been reversed. I don't think I've ever regretted having to kill someone more. And had it not been for my team medic being right behind me, he would have killed me too. He was a brave man, a strong man. He was a noble warrior and that is a rare thing. I am honored that he was my enemy. I wish that we could have been friends instead."

She reached out and slapped him across the face. Neither of the guards moved, nor did Corin. She slapped him again. He went back to staring at the spot on the wall. Her face was hard, but there were still tears in her eyes. "Did you fulfill the rest of your promise?"

"Yes, ma'am. I brought them home. One of us stood a guard of honor over them the entire trip. We were very much alike and we all knew it. We gave them what we ourselves would like to have whenever _our_ luck runs out."

"Where is he?"

"Ma'am, the frigate _ISS Verat Torrollos_ is in orbit over Cardassia Prime right now, escorted by two of your vessels. Your mate was the team leader so we await your instructions on where to bring them. With the permission of you and your government, my team would like to escort them the rest of the way home."

"No. I don't want any more of..._you_...on this planet. Beam them to the medical facility. Gul, you know the coordinates. Please tell them." The larger of Corin's two guards stepped off to the side and spoke quietly into his communicator.

Corin continued to stare at the spot on the back wall. She continued to study Corin. She finally concluded, "I will never stop hating you until the end of time."

He straightened his shoulders. "I understand, ma'am."

"You have completed your promise. Get out of my house."

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." he turned to follow the guards out and paused, "I know it won't help, ma'am, but I truly am sorry."

"Get out!"

Corin followed the guards into the street. They began walking back towards the spaceport and after a few blocks, the Gul stopped them, his hand flat against Corin's chest.

"We all saw that special too. And the broadcast of the battle as well." Corin looked at him curiously and he continued "You call your group Raider Team Six, don't you?"

"Yes. Though, right now I'm the team leader in name only. I lost too many parts to continue in the field."

The big man inspected Corin. "I lead a similar unit, of the type Gul Kalekt led."

Corin remained silent. They were off the main streets and away from the majority of the public eye. If they decided to go after him, there wasn't a damn thing in the world he could do about it.

"He said he wished he had time for a drink. Do you remember?"

Corin grinned, "I do. I wish we had as well. I would have enjoyed drinking with him. I'll be raising a glass in his name during our next memorial games on Dosad."

The Gul said, "I think, Dosadi, that we should have that drink for him now. Who knows if there will be time later?"

Corin's face split into a broad smile. "I would very much like that, Cardassian. I have a very close-friend on Dosad who keeps telling me that if people could just sit down and talk, they wouldn't fight so much. She would be very happy were I to do that with you."

The Cardassian smiled back. "We respect honor too, Dosadi. And we remember as well." He motioned the other guard and Corin into the building they had stopped in front of. "Our Scouts prefer this bar. They understand warriors."

And the door cycled closed behind them.


	13. Epilogue

_**EPILOGUE**_

Which pretty much brings me to the conclusion of my research. As of this moment, Corin and Yun are still together despite butting heads as often as a pair of bighorn sheep. Fortunately, little Rileeta seems to have both of them under control most of the time, and Ceena seems willing to keep _her_ under control when needed.

You're no doubt wondering what happened to all of that data safely tucked away behind my navel in my secondary cache: I erased it.

Before you wonder if I've taken leave of my senses, let me explain why – And I hope you'll not think the less of me for my reasons, nor think that I have biased my story in any way. I have a reputation for always reporting fairly and I intend to keep it that way.

While completing and then assembling all of my research and the many, many hours of raw video, audio, holo, and written materials, I found two experienced and willing helpers. The first was an adept researcher who was well experienced at teasing old data from the 'nets – Heather; The pilot who was so central to the story that ended up defining my career choice. The second, a highly experienced artist, editor, and producer herself - Nollos.

Unfortunately for my attempting to remain completely uninvolved in my story, it is not possible to spend nearly two years in such close cooperation with someone of such similar interests, skills, and outlook without becoming...involved emotionally despite the difference in age. The Wilkes family, strange as it is, is open, warm, friendly, and, sad to say, addictive.

Being involved with a non-human isn't nearly as strange as I thought it was when I began this project, and the Wilkes family's involvement with the Hydran House of Jons seems relatively normal now.

In any case, my reporting is true to the facts. I've been under no pressure from Federation, Dosadi, or Hydran intelligence and I intend to keep it that way; Which is why I erased that data. Besides, I think I'll need the space. Nollos and I are beginning a working tour of the Federation. Argus has again allowed me to do independent work, this time on the performing traditions of the races of the galaxy. The series will be titled 'Quantum Entertainment' – look for it on your Argus feed.

I'm looking forward to it.


	14. Acknowledgments

_**ENDNOTES**_

1 'Courage Knows No Bounds' Lyrics, Phillip R. Obermarck, Music by Heather Alexander © 1997 Sea Fire Productions

2 'The Season's Upon Us' by The Dropkick Murphys © 2012 Born & Bred Records

3 'Blood And Roses' by The Smithereens © 1992 Capitol Catalog

4 'Somewhere Out There' by James Ingram © 1999 BMG Entertainment

5 'The Promise' by Tracey Chapman © 1995 Elektra Entertainment

6 'Bullet In My Hand' by The Red Light Kings © 2011 Hollywood Records, Inc.

_**ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS**_

These stories were greatly helped along by the suggestions, imagination, and encouragement of author Just A Crazy Guy. His suggestions for plot points, characters, tie-ins to existing Star Trek universe back-stories, ship designs, weapons, and actions were invaluable.

They would not have been possible at all without the constant support, encouragement, editing, and suggestions of my friend Tracey Howard.

I would also like to acknowledge the influences of other authors' stories scattered throughout these stories – That includes:

_The Dosadi Experiment_ by Frank Herbert

The series of Star Trek books by James Blish

_Dreadnought_ by Diane Carey

_Battlestations_ by Diane Carey

_Uhura's Song_ by Janet Kagan

_The Belgariad_ by David and Leigh Eddings

_Second Hand Lions _(New Line Cinema)

The Dorsai trilogy by Gordon R. Dickson

Graphics are from Wikipedia, NASA

Damaged USS Hood on Triad cover:

?f=24&t=210

_Star Trek: The Original Series_ (Klingon D7 and Constitution class starships)

Hydran Cruiser:

art/Hydran-Iroquois-class-New-Heavy-Cruiser-1-2952 18170

I have tried to pattern all of the military actions after elements of real, historical actions. If you are curious, you may find some of them here:

_Popski's Private Army_ by Allen Parfitt (HIGHLY recommended)

The actions of the USS Johnston, USS Samuel B Roberts, USS Hoel, and USS Heermann in the Battle of Samar October 25, 1944.

The Battle of Cape Esperance, October 11-12, 1942

The actions of MSG Roy Benavidez near Loc Ninh, May 2, 1968

An incident over Korea in the 1950's where a US Pilot passed out due to an oxygen failure and was rescued by his teammates catching his aircraft on the airflow over their wings and guiding his aircraft to lower altitudes.

The actions of Lt. Col Geoffrey Keyes during Operation Flipper, November 15, 1941 against a German door guard.

I hope you enjoy reading these tales as much as I enjoyed writing them.


End file.
